Summer Departure
by PairingMatters
Summary: After Harry's fourth year at Hogwarts, Harry returns to Privet Drive, but then he decided to leave on the day after his birthday. What would change as a result? Genre may change as the story goes on.
1. Chapter 1

**Summer Departure**

Chapter 1

**Leaving Privet Drive**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

Harry wasn't happy.

His fourth year was not a good year, starting with his name coming out of the Goblet of Fire, which means he had to compete against the three champions on the Tri-Wizard Tournament, though he never considered entering.

The murder of Cedric Diggory, plus Voldemort's rebirth, his duel with him, as well as the discovery of Barty Crouch Junior disguised as Mad-Eye Moody, were bad news. And now, Dumbledore wanted him to return to the Dursleys, his magic hating relatives, as Ron had informed him at the end of last year.

For the past few weeks, he nicked papers out of bins, trying to find out what was going on.

He frequently saw Dudley hanging out with his friends, smoking in street corners, throwing stones at bypassing cars and children, only that Dudley told Vernon and Petunia that he was out for tea.

As his birthday arrived, he received cards and chocolates from Ron and Hermione, both of them stated that they would see him soon.

"_We can't say much about You-Know-What, obviously… We've been told to not say anything important in case our letters go astray… We are quite busy but we can't give you details here… There's a fair amount going on, we will tell you everything when we see you..."_

He knew that Ron and Hermione were both in the same place, but he wondered how soon he would see them again.

Sirius's letter was no better.

"_I know this must be frustrating for you… Keep your nose clean and everything will be OK… Be careful and don't do anything rash..."_

Recalling the summer before his third year, he had blown up Aunt Marge, and then he ran away from Privet Drive.

He didn't know why Dumbledore wants him to stay with the Dursleys even after all this had happened.

_Why did he send me to the Dursleys in the first place?_ He thought.

If Ron and Hermione could not bother giving him any news at all, he knew it was time to leave, just like he did during the summer holiday before his third year at Hogwarts.

He thought that he would be living with Sirius at the end of his third year, only that Peter Pettigrew escaped, and he was the one who resurrected Voldemort.

He knew that Hermione had been keeping secrets from him during her third year, which was the time-turner, though he could at least understand why she didn't tell him that.

During his fourth year, Hermione was the one who stood by his side after his name came out of the Goblet of Fire, and even helped him to prepare for the First Task.

As August started, Harry decided that this was the time for him to leave Privet Drive and never return.

He decided to speak to his relatives about this, knowing that they will only be too happy to let him go.

Pondering with his thoughts, he made his way into the living room.

Vernon and Petunia were sitting on the sofa, watching the TV.

"Uncle Vernon?" he said.

Vernon looked up.

"What are you doing here, boy?" he asked.

"I want to tell you something, I am leaving," Harry answered.

Vernon considered for a moment.

"That's fine with us," he said. "We don't want you here, and we don't need you here."

"When are you leaving?" Petunia asked.

"Very soon, I'll go and get my things, and I will leave," Harry said. "I will book a room at the Leaky Cauldron and spend the rest of my summer there."

Vernon and Petunia both felt elated.

"Go and prepare you things, then," Vernon said. "You don't have to inform us when you are going to leave, keep yourself out of our sights as much as you can."

Harry nodded and left the living room.

He spent about thirty minutes to pack his things, and he dragged his trunk and went to the door, walking out of the house.

He made his way to Magnolia Crescent, waiting for the Knight Bus.

Soon enough, the Knight Bus arrived, and Harry stuck his wand hand in the air, then the Knight Bus stopped.

The door of the Knight Bus opened, then Stan Shunpike arrived.

"Where would you like to go?" he asked.

"Leaky Cauldron, London," Harry answered.

"Eleven Sickles," Stan said.

Harry opened up his trunk, extracted his money bag, took out eleven sickles and handed it to Stan.

Harry hopped on the bus, while Stan helped him to lift his trunk and cage in.

It was the second time that he rode on the Knight Bus, and he didn't expect to see seats.

"There are no beds," he said.

"Beds are here at night time, not day time," Stan said.

As soon as the bus stopped at the Leaky Cauldron, he announced that Harry was in his destination.

"Thanks," Harry said, and then he walked out of the bus.

He walked into the Parlour that he was there a few years ago, and Tom was greeting him.

"This is the second time that you are here, Harry, are you intending to stay here?" he asked.

"Yes," Harry answered.

"I'll see if I can get a room for you first," Tom said, and then he walked off.

Harry waited for a moment, then Tom arrived back again.

"Room ten is free this time," he said to Harry.

He took Harry's trunk and owl up into room ten.

"Tell me if you need anything," Tom said, then he went away.

As Harry sat down on the bed, he stretched his arms.

After a brief period of rest, his first thought was to send letters to Ron and Hermione to tell them where he was, but after careful consideration, he squashed the idea; since he knew that owls may be intercepted, it would be better to not send them any letter at all. They had no idea that he had already left Privet Drive, so they wouldn't be worrying about him unless if someone finds out about this.

Maybe he should take the Knight Bus again to the Kings Cross on the first day of September, to attend Hogwarts.

Brushing these thoughts aside, he knew he could do whatever he wants to, as long as he does not put himself in danger, or endanger anyone else.

o-o

On the third of August, Albus Dumbledore received a message from Mrs Figg, saying that two Dementors were wandering around in Privet Drive.

He sent a Patronus to the Ministry of Magic, the Improper Use of Magic Office, saying that he will ask some Wizards to go and check on Privet Drive, that they would expect magic usage over there, to avoid making the Ministry think Harry using magic in Little Whinging.

A moment later, he received a Patronus.

_All right, for the time being, we will disregard the usage of magic in Little Whinging._

Then he quickly called some of his people to go and have a look.

As soon as they arrived, they drove off the Dementors, then they found Dudley lying on the bed of the Dursley's home. Vernon and Petunia were both lying on the floor, and they didn't move either.

"They are worse than death," Remus Lupin said after he examined them.

"Don't know what made Harry leave this place," Dumbledore said.

"Maybe he didn't like living here," Remus said.

"Did you tell him why you want him to stay here?" asked Alastor Moody.

"No, I didn't," Dumbledore said. "I should have told him this when he was in his first year at Hogwarts."

"We've got to find him," a pink-haired witch called Tonks said.

"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed.

"Where do you think he will be?" asked Alastor.

"Alastor, Tonks, Remus, you three check the Leaky Cauldron," Dumbledore said. "The rest of you check the Burrow."

o-o

Meanwhile, Harry was in Leaky Cauldron, trying to do the homework that the teachers had set him.

Fifteen minutes later, Tom, the barman opened the door and entered.

"Harry, people are coming for you," he said.

"Who are they?" Harry asked.

"I am not sure, but they want to see you," Ton said.

"Right," Harry said. "I'll go and meet them."

He walked out of his room and saw Remus, Alastor, and Tonks.

"What are you three doing here?" he asked.

"I could ask you the same question, Harry, what are you doing here?" Remus asked.

"I bid the Dursleys goodbye a few days ago," Harry answered.

"You were not supposed to leave Privet Drive," Alastor said. "Dumbledore said that you are protected as long as you call Number Four, Privet Drive home."

"There were Dementors in Privet Drive, your Aunt, Uncle and cousin were all kissed," Remus went on. "We were too late to save them."

"Dementors in Muggle places?" asked Harry.

"Yes," Remus answered. "I don't know how they got there, hopefully, we will find out later."

Harry was relieved that he wasn't there, at least he didn't need to use magic, which also means he wouldn't be facing expulsion from Hogwarts.

At this moment, a thought occurred to him.

He knew that there was a disguised teacher in Hogwarts last year, so he decided to ask some more questions, just in case if they were imposters.

"Remus, I want to ask you some questions," he said. "Do you know my Dad?"

"Yes, his name is James Potter, and he is an unregistered Animagus," Remus answered, realising that Harry wants to check him.

"What spell did you teach me while you were teaching at Hogwarts?" asked Harry.

"Loads of them, but in particular, to you, the Patronus Charm, in the History of Magic classroom," Remus said. "The Dementors came to the Quidditch pitch during the first Quidditch match in your third year causing you to fall off your broom, and you requested me to teach you that spell."

"Right, I'll just pay the money to Tom, then we can leave," Harry said.

After he paid the money, Remus helped him packing his trunk, then he asked Harry to take out his broom.

"Are we going to the Burrow?" Harry asked after he took out his broom.

"No, the Burrow is too risky," Remus answered. "We are setting Headquarters somewhere undetectable, it will take a while."

"And we will be going by broom," Tonks said.

Harry took out his broom from his trunk, then he closed it.

"What's your name, by the way?" Harry asked the pink-haired witch.

"Just call me Tonks," Tonks said.

"I'll summon your stuff to the destination," Remus said.

He took out his wand, waved at Harry's trunk, and the trunk was gone.

They walked out of the Leaky Cauldron.

"It seems that you want to check up on us to make sure we are real," Remus said.

"Of course, I don't want to risk my life by going with Death Eaters," Harry said, then he told Remus about Barty Crouch Junior disguised as Alastor Moody during his fourth year at Hogwarts.

"I will use the Disillusionment Charm on you before we go, Potter," Alastor said.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"Disillusionment Charm disguises you, making you taking the exact colour of the environment around you," Alastor explained.

"I'll send out a message to tell the others that you are found," Remus said. "Then we will wait for the signals."

He took his wand, shot out a wolf, and it disappeared.

At this point, Alastor pointed his wand at Harry, rapped him hard on the head, and Harry felt a sensation as though Moody had just smashed an egg there; cold trickles seemed to be running down his body from the point the wand struck him.

Five minutes later, a lynx arrived.

"Okay, now we are going to wait for the signals," Remus said.

Ten minutes later, a shower of red sparks flared among the stars.

"First signal," Remus said. "Mount your brooms."

Harry mounted his brooms, then he waited.

A moment later, a shower of green sparks flared among the stars.

"Second signal, let's go," Remus said.

Everyone got to their feet and kicked off from the ground.

o-o

Ron and Hermione were in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place; eagerly waiting for Harry to come. Molly Weasley just told them that Harry was found a few moments ago, which was a relief to them, that they no longer need to worry about him.

Sometime later, they heard a few people opening the door, realising that Harry should be here by now.

Then they heard someone coming up the stairs. A moment later, Harry arrived.

Hermione ran to him and hugged him.

"How are you doing, Harry?" she asked as she released him.

"I am all right," Harry answered.

"I heard from Dumbledore saying that you were missing," Ron said.

"Well, I wasn't missing, I just left Privet Drive on my own," Harry said.

"But Dumbledore..."

"...forget it," Harry interrupted. "He has no right to tell me where I should stay during the summer holidays."

Ron gasped.

"So you don't trust him anymore?" he asked.

"Not in full at least," Harry answered.

"Why didn't you send a letter to us after you arrived at the Leaky Cauldron?" Ron asked.

"Same reason why you didn't say anything important in your letters," Harry answered. "If I was to send letters to you two, I can't possibly reveal my location, can I? Who knows if anyone would read the letter before it gets to you? Do you think I would dare put myself in danger?"

Neither Ron nor Hermione said anything.

"So what's going on?" asked Harry.

"Dumbledore told us that the Dementors attacked your Aunt, Uncle and cousin," Ron replied. "If you were there, you probably would have used a Patronus Charm to drive them away."

"What, and get another letter from the Ministry saying that I would be expelled?" asked Harry. "I am glad that I got out before it even happened."

"But you would be kissed if you do not drive them away. Besides, your absence caused the loss of several lives," Ron said.

"I didn't do it on purpose, mind you," Harry said.

He thought about asking how would it be possible for Dementors to roam around the Muggle place; but as he realised that Voldemort is already back in power, he may have played a part in it.

"Have you been reading the Daily Prophet, Harry?" Hermione went on.

"Not cover to cover," Harry answered.

"You need to read from cover to cover if you want to get the full details of what was going on," Hermione said.

Then she handed the Daily Prophet to him.

As Harry began reading, he felt angry; since it was making snide remarks about him.

"At least I wasn't there when the Dementors attacked my relatives, which means I didn't do any underage magic in Little Whinging this summer," he said.

"I know," Ron said.

"The Daily Prophet did not report the Dementor attack, someone told the reporters to keep it quiet," Hermione said.

"Maybe that Dementor attack was intended for you, Harry, either you get kissed, or you would be forced to drive them away using magic and get in trouble with the Ministry," Ron went on. "Since you were not there, it won't make any difference whether the Ministry keeps it quiet or not anymore."

"Which means I unintentionally went one step ahead of that and evaded them," Harry said.

There was a short silence.

"What is this place, anyway?" Harry asked.

"Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," Hermione said. "The Order of the Phoenix is a secret society. Dumbledore's in charge; its the people who fought You-Know-Who last time."

"So what is Tom Riddle up to right now?" asked Harry, feeling that it would be better to not use Voldemort at this point.

"Who are you talking about?" asked Ron, confused.

"You-Know-Who was once called Tom Riddle, I am going by this name to not scare you both," Harry said. "Don't you remember that Dumbledore told you this at the end of our second year at Hogwarts? Don't you remember what became of Ginny after he possessed her?"

Ron nodded.

"He almost killed my sister," he said, and Harry nodded.

"We don't know what he's up to; since the Order does not allow us in the meetings," Hermione said.

"How many people are in the Order, by the way?" asked Harry.

"We are not sure," Ron answered. "Most of my family are in the Order. My parents, Bill, Charlie."

"What about Percy?" asked Harry.

"Do not talk about Percy when my parents are around, because Mum would cry, and Dad would break anything he's holding," Ron said.

"What happened to him?" asked Harry.

"Percy and Dad had a row," Ron answered.

At this moment, Fred and George arrived, followed by Ginny.

"You guys are chatting, right?" asked Fred.

"Yes," Harry answered. "We were just talking about Percy."

"The first week that the school term ended, we were about to come and join the Order, Percy came home and told us that he had been promoted," Ron went on.

"Really?" asked Harry.

He knew that Percy was ambitious, but he was under the impression that Percy did not make a great success of his first job at the Ministry of Magic; Percy had failed to notice that Mr Crouch was controlled by Voldemort.

"Yeah," Fred said. "Percy got into loads of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said that Percy should have realised that Mr Crouch was not in the right state and informed a superior. Percy wasn't going to complain as Crouch left him in charge."

"And how did he get promoted?" asked Harry.

"Percy was rather pleased with himself, telling Dad that Fudge had offered him a position in his own office, and he expected Dad to be happy, only Dad wasn't," said Fred.

"Why not?" asked Harry.

"Fudge was storming around the Ministry, checking to see if anyone was in contact with Dumbledore," Ron said.

"Dad said that Fudge stated clearly that anyone in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks," George said.

"The trouble is that Fudge suspects Dad, he knows that he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought that Dad was a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession," Fred said.

"Dad reckons that Fudge only wanted Percy to be in his office so he can spy on his family and Dumbledore," said Ron. "Percy went completely berserk, and he was struggling against Dad's lousy reputation since he joined the Ministry and Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been lacking in money."

"It got worse, Percy said that Dad was an idiot running around Dumbledore, and Dumbledore's in big trouble and Dad was going down with him," Fred went on. "Percy was loyal to the Ministry, and if Mum and Dad were to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure he let everyone know that he doesn't belong to our family anymore. He packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now."

"Which means that he doesn't believe that Voldemort is back," said Harry.

"Of course he doesn't," Hermione answered.

"Percy said that the only evidence is your word, he didn't think it was good enough," Ron went on.

Silence fell between them.

A moment later, Mrs Weasley appeared at the door.

"The meeting is over, you can come down and have dinner now," she said.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Ginny arrived down to the Hall.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Horcrux**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

After dinner, Arthur Weasley called Harry for a private word.

"Remus, Tonks and Alastor told me that you were in Leaky Cauldron," he said.

"That I was," Harry said.

"Since when did you run away on your own from Privet Drive?" asked Arthur.

"The summer before my third year," Harry answered. "This time, I left on the first day of August."

"Why did you leave Privet Drive?" asked Arthur.

"Why does that matter?" asked Harry.

"Of course it matters, Dumbledore told us that you are protected while you live with your Aunt and Uncle, your mother's protection will prevent You-Know-Who and his supporters from getting you while you are there," Arthur answered. "Didn't he tell you that?"

"He didn't," Harry answered.

Then he went on and told Arthur everything about the Dursleys.

Arthur sighed.

"Anyway, right now you are in more danger," he said. "We can only do as much to protect you."

"How did the Dementors get to Little Whinging?" asked Harry.

"Someone must have ordered them, I'll see if I can find out who it was," Arthur answered. "Fortunately, you were not there, not facing the Dementors and this resulted in your relatives getting kissed."

"Which means I didn't use magic there during this summer," Harry said.

"I am wondering why someone would order the Dementors to Muggle places," Arthur said.

Then he Apparated away.

o-o

After breakfast on the following day, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat together, and Hermione suggested Harry and Ron read books.

Ron stood up and walked away.

Harry didn't walk away, and he leaned closer to Hermione.

"What were you doing while you were in Leaky Cauldron?" Hermione asked Harry.

"Homework," Harry answered.

"Do you mind if I go over it?" asked Hermione.

"I haven't finished it yet, I'll continue to do it now," Harry said.

Then he pulled out his parchments and quill, then continued to write.

Hermione nodded.

It took Harry one more hour to finish the homework.

After he finished it, he handed it over to Hermione.

"Hmm..." Hermione said. "You improved a lot right now."

At the moment, Sirius arrived.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"I just finished my homework," Harry answered.

"You are doing better than before, Harry," Hermione said. "You were never this good over the past few years."

"You know my relatives, they punish me if I do better than Dudley," Harry said.

"Goodness me," Sirius said.

"And I have been goofing off with Ron over the past four years," Harry said.

"No one has any right to punish you for doing better than their son, Harry," Hermione said. "If you beat me, I wouldn't be jealous of you either."

"Do you have any more homework?" asked Sirius.

"Yes, I do," Harry answered. "I still have some homework to do, though not too much. Better do it now than leaving it until later."

Just then, Ron came in.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"Do you want to play a game of chess?" asked Ron.

"Not yet," Harry answered. "I still have quite a bit of homework to do."

"You can always finish it later," Ron said.

"I know," Harry said. "I'd rather not leave homework late, though."

At this point, Hermione asked Ron if he had already finished his homework.

"I barely did any of it. I am going to do it on the last week of August," Ron said. "I am still on holiday."

"So you rather want to leave your homework until then, Ron?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, and what about it?" asked Ron.

"I think Hermione's got a point," Sirius said. "What if you could not finish your homework before the term starts, Ron?"

"I just want to be a Quidditch player, I pretty much don't need anything at all," Ron said.

Hermione couldn't believe this, Ron was a slacker, a real slacker indeed.

"If you are on the team, something may happen, but it won't last long," Sirius said. "What if you were kicked out of the team? What if someone replaced you?"

Ron stormed away.

o-o

Harry finished another piece of his homework before lunchtime, then he put his quill down.

After lunch, he walked around the house for a bit, then he sat down again.

One hour later, he started to do his homework again.

While he was halfway through his homework, Ron approached him, only that he didn't look up at him.

"Harry!" Ron called out.

Harry looked up.

"What do you want, Ron?" he asked.

"You are still doing your homework," Ron said.

"Yes," Harry said, and Ron walked away again.

Just then, Molly arrived.

"Did you finish your homework, Ron?" she asked.

"No, I can wait until later to do it," Ron said.

"And when are you going to do it?" asked Molly.

"The last week of this month," Ron answered.

"No, you are not supposed to leave it until later," Molly said. "You should be doing it now."

Ron nodded, and then he pulled out his homework and began to do it.

A few hours later, Arthur arrived back, and he approached Harry.

"How are you doing, Harry?" he asked.

"I am doing fine. What happened in the Ministry?" asked Harry.

"The Minister was intending to keep the Dementor attack in Little Whinging quiet, but he never realised that you would leave all of a sudden before they arrived."

"What is he doing now?" asked Harry.

"He's investigating this matter further," Arthur answered. "He stated that whoever ordered the Dementors must have a reason to do so."

"You didn't tell him that someone outside the Ministry may have ordered the Dementors?" asked Harry.

"Of course I didn't, because I don't think he would believe me if I said this to him," Arthur answered. "You know that he still refused to believe You-Know-Who's return, don't you?"

Harry nodded.

"If the person who ordered the Dementors to Little Whinging was trying to get you away from Hogwarts, it could mean that they don't want you to spread You-Know-Who's return."

"You may want to call him Tom Riddle, by the way," Harry said.

"What do you mean?" asked Arthur.

"Remember the Diary that almost killed your daughter?" asked Harry.

Arthur pondered with the question for a moment.

"Tom Riddle's Diary?" he asked.

"Yes," Harry answered. "This makes me wonder what the Diary is. It must be something serious, more than just a mere memory."

"But you stabbed it, right?" asked Arthur.

"I did. If I didn't, Ginny's life would be taken, and Hogwarts may be closed," Harry answered.

"Did you write in it too?" asked Arthur.

"I did," Harry answered. "But I was not possessed by it."

Silence fell between them.

Ron, who had just finished some of his homework about one hour ago, stood up as Molly entered.

"Did you finish your homework yet, Ron?" she asked.

"Some of them, I'll do the rest tomorrow," he answered.

"I can only hope that you keep your word, Ron," Molly said.

o-o

On the following day, however, Ron asked Harry to play a game of chess, and Harry agreed.

"Don't forget to do your homework, Ron," Molly reminded him.

"I know," Ron said.

As lunchtime passed, Ron went into his room to relax, as Harry pulled out a parchment and a quill, and continued on his homework again.

"Ron is not here with us right now," Hermione said. "I wondered what he is doing."

"Maybe you should go and get him," Harry said. "I am still busy."

Hermione nodded and set off.

A moment later, she arrived back.

"Ron's still resting, and he asked me to give him a break first," she said. "He will come out when he's ready."

A few hours passed, and Harry already finished another piece of his homework.

"Do you mind if I go over them now?" asked Hermione.

"No, but you don't need to correct me either. If anything's wrong, I'll try and figure it out myself," Harry answered.

Hermione examined Harry's homework.

"Never better," she said, handing it back to him.

At this moment, Arthur arrived home, and then Ron approached Harry and Hermione.

"How long did you stay in bed, Ron?" asked Hermione.

"Quite a few hours," Ron answered.

"Don't tell me that you did not do your homework yet," Hermione shot at him.

"Oh, that! I forgot," Ron said.

He looked around, making sure that his mother was nowhere near.

During dinner time, Molly asked Ron if he finished his homework yet, and Ron told her that he forgot to do it.

"You better do it after dinner, Ron," Molly said. "You told me you are going to continue with your homework today."

"Yeah," Arthur said.

"We still have like three weeks," Ron said. "I can leave it until later."

"When are you going to do it?" asked Arthur.

"I'll decide when I am going to do it," Ron answered.

Molly shook her head.

_Ron never really kept his word, _she thought, _Fred and George did not get many OWLs, but I wondered how many OWLs Ron would get this year._

"I want to see you get more OWLs than Fred and George, Ron," she said.

"I will," Ron said.

"You need at least Exceeds Expectations in your OWLs to get to NEWT in most of the subjects," George said to Ron.

"True," Bill said.

"You didn't even get that much OWLs," Ron shot at George.

"Ron," Hermione said. "What if you passed your OWLs with only Acceptable grades?"

Ron didn't speak.

"Let's hope that this doesn't happen to him," Bill said.

o-o

"Have you been having dreams about You-Know-Who lately, Harry?" Hermione asked after breakfast on the following day.

"Not recently, but I am wondering why I have dreams about him," Harry answered.

Then he began to think.

A moment later, he thought of something.

"This is not a good sign," he said. "If I can speak parseltongue, as well as having dreams about Voldemort, I think it might be that part of him is inside me."

"Do you have any proof for that?" asked Hermione.

"There would be no way for me to see into his mind if I do not have part of him in me," Harry answered.

"Seriously?" Hermione asked, shaking. "Oh my goodness, Harry, if this is the case, we must get rid of it at all costs, without losing your magic. You may not be able to concentrate properly in class if you have dreams about him from time to time."

She felt shaken.

"What's going on here?"

Harry looked up and saw Bill.

"I overheard everything you said," Bill went on. "Come, Harry, I need to examine you a bit."

He led Harry into a room.

"Now lie on the bed," he said, and Harry obeyed.

"So you had dreams about You-Know-Who?" he asked, and Harry nodded.

Bill waved his wand over Harry's scar.

"Something's not right," he said. "There is Dark magic in your head, Harry. A part of You-Know-Who's soul is in you."

Harry sighed.

"Don't panic, I can remove it without damaging your magic," Bill said confidently. "It will be painful, though, and it will take thirty minutes."

"Is there any way to prevent me from feeling the pain while you remove it?" asked Harry.

"No way, even putting you to sleep is not going to work," Bill answered.

"Just do it, then, I'll try and get through it," Harry said.

The pain was intense, much like the pain he had when he senses into Voldemort, he tried to calm himself, yet the pain did not lessen.

Thirty minutes later, a mist of black cloud oozed out of Harry's scar.

"All done, your scar will heal eventually," Bill said. "I am sure that you won't have dreams about You-Know-Who anymore, from now on."

"That's good," Harry said.

Bill waved his wand over Harry again.

"Your magical core is a bit unstable, but it will recover within twenty-four hours," he said. "Just don't use any magic until then."

"All right, thanks, Bill," Harry said.

As Arthur arrived back home that evening, he informed Harry that Dolores Umbridge was the one who ordered the Dementors to Little Whinging.

"If you were present there, you would either drive them away or be kissed," he said. "Dolores Umbridge wants to silence you, preventing you from spreading the word about You-Know-Who's return. Fortunately, you ran away before it even happened."

"So what happens now?" asked Harry.

"Umbridge is currently in the holding cells, awaiting trials," Arthur answered.

"So the Minister believed Voldemort's return now?" asked Harry.

"No, he still refused to believe that," Arthur answered.

o-o

One day later, Harry felt that his magic was back in full strength.

"I can concentrate better now," he said as he began to do the rest of his homework.

"So you won't have more dreams about V-Voldemort now?" asked Hermione.

It was the first time Hermione said the name.

"No more dreams about him," Harry said.

As soon as he finished his homework, he placed his parchments back into his trunk.

"Now I can just do whatever I want," he said. "Since there's only the two of us, I want to talk to you about something."

"Say it then," Hermione said.

"I was thinking if we can be more than friends," Harry said. "You really mean a lot to me."

"Well, you wouldn't mind what Rita Skeeter said in the Daily Prophet about you last year, would you?" Hermione asked.

"Not anymore," Harry answered. "I just want to go out with you."

Hermione didn't know what to say yet.

A moment later, she recovered.

"What?" she asked.

"Will you go out with me?" he asked her.

"And why would you want someone like me?" asked Hermione. "I am just a bossy, stubborn, know-it-all bookworm."

Harry laughed.

"You stood by me while the others stayed away from me after my name came out of the Goblet of Fire, and you helped me to do the Summoning Charm properly so that I could get through the First Task in that Tri-Wizard Tournament," Harry answered. "Had you not stood by my side, I don't know what would happen to me during the First Task."

"That was just the First Task, by the way, and then you went back to Ron again," Hermione said.

Harry sighed.

He couldn't deny it, as it was true. He didn't know if he misses Ron as much as he did during his fourth year anymore.

Thinking about his third year, he didn't feel too good. First of all, Hermione went behind his back during Christmas, reporting to Professor McGonagall the Firebolt that was sent to him anonymously, causing it to be confiscated and checked for jinxes, and he began to avoid her. The second problem was Scabbers, which made Ron not talking to her until later, though he did try and ask her to join in after Gryffindor won the match against Ravenclaw.

Of course, none of these things mattered too much now, but thinking about what Hagrid told him and Ron his thoughts; that they would value friendships more than broomsticks and rats, he felt he needs to change.

He knew that spending time with Hermione would mean a lot of hanging around in the library, much less fun and laughter than Ron, except that he couldn't resist himself now. He wondered if Hermione knew that he wants more fun.

Consider how Ron treated Hermione during the Yule Ball, and the fights they had shortly after, he didn't know if he should side with Ron or Hermione this time.

However, consider the fact that Ron was so lazy with doing his homework, he felt that it was time to keep a distance from him for a little while. It would not be worth the risk of having a friend like this.

"I know, but now things change," Harry said. "I love you."

He looked at her nervously.

A moment later, she smiled.

"I'll go out with you," she answered. "I love you too."

Harry smiled.

"Let's keep this a secret for now, though," Hermione went on, and Harry nodded.

Hermione leaned towards Harry and kissed him, and then he returned the kiss.

"Let's get back," Hermione suggested, and Harry nodded.

Together, they went to join the Weasleys.

"What's up with you two?" asked Ron.

"I just finished my homework," Harry answered. "I am planning to do some reading later."

"Maybe we can have another game of chess right now," Ron suggested.

Before Harry could say anything else, Molly went over to Ron.

"Ron, why don't you settle down and finish your homework?" she asked.

"Fine," Ron answered, looking reluctant, then he walked off.

A/N: Should I get rid of Severus Snape from Hogwarts before the Hogwarts term starts in this story? Or should I do something to make Severus Snape to not go too far on any Hogwarts students in this story? If I do get rid of him from Hogwarts, will Hogwarts need a new spy? If yes, who?

Should Harry be prefect in this story (along with Hermione)? Or should I make the prefects the same as in canon (Ron & Hermione)? It doesn't matter which one, as it doesn't affect Harry & Hermione relationship.

Now that the Horcrux in Harry is removed, what disadvantage would this bring?

Dolores Umbridge will not teach at Hogwarts in this story, so be rest assured.

Any other suggestions are welcome, send me a private message if you need to.

The more reviews I get that answers my questions in the first paragraph of my Author Note, the sooner I will be able to make a decision on how the next chapter should go.

Edit: since there were not a lot of reviews telling me what to do with Snape, I am going to put up a poll for you to vote. Either Snape stays at Hogwarts with all his positions, or he stays at Hogwarts but having his position of Head of Slytherin taken away and replaced by someone else, or he is removed from Hogwarts.

Note, If Snape stays in Hogwarts with all his positions intact, the Slytherin prefects will most likely be the same as canon (Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson).


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Prefects**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

A few days later, Fudge was sacked from the Minister of Magic position, and Amos Diggory took over his position.

Sirius was elated when Arthur told him that a trial would soon be given to him, to prove his innocence.

"Peter Pettigrew wasn't caught yet," he said.

"Not yet, but the Minister will find a way to get him," Arthur said.

o-o

Dumbledore went back to his office during the afternoon, noticing that his device of monitoring Harry's scar had exploded, he wondered what happened to Harry.

Knowing that Voldemort was back to power, he was sure that Harry would have dreams about him.

He decided to take a trip to Grimmauld Place.

He made his way to Hogsmeade, then he Apparated to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

o-o

"Albus, it is a surprise to see you," Molly said.

"I wondered what happened to Harry Potter," Albus said.

A moment later, Bill arrived.

"Professor Dumbledore, you will not be able to identify Harry easily like before," Bill said to him.

"What do you mean, Bill?" asked Dumbledore.

"I discovered Dark magic behind Harry's scar, and I removed it," Bill answered.

"Is his magic core stable?" asked Dumbledore.

"It was unstable after I removed the Dark magic behind him, but it was stabilised twenty-four hours later," Bill answered.

Dumbledore sighed.

"So Harry has no scar now?" he asked.

"That's right, his scar faded," Bill answered.

"I'll go and see him," Dumbledore said.

"I'll help you to find him," Molly said.

Dumbledore followed Molly until they reached a room.

"I'll call him now," Molly said.

She entered the room and saw Harry.

"Harry, Dumbledore wants to see you," she said.

Harry leapt to his feet and walked out of the room.

"Is there any problem, Professor?" he asked.

Dumbledore glanced at Harry.

"You have no scar now, Harry," he said.

"Yeah, and what about it?" asked Harry.

"Bill Weasley told me that he removed Dark magic behind your scar," Dumbledore said, and Harry nodded.

"Thanks to him, I won't be having dreams about Voldemort anymore," he said.

"So you suspected that part of Voldemort lived in you?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yeah," Harry answered. "I wouldn't be having dreams about him if it wasn't there."

"All right, Harry, I shall see you on the first day of September, at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, then he left.

After he went back to his office, he began to think.

He knew that Harry got the scar the same night when his parents were murdered, as the curse that failed to kill him rebounded on Voldemort, causing part of his soul to latch onto him, and he was sure that the connection between then would grow stronger this year, given that Voldemort was back to power.

He had thought that letting Voldemort kill Harry was the only way to get rid of that soul. The fact that Voldemort had taken Harry's blood would ensure that Harry would still be alive even if he used the Killing Curse on him. He had never expected anyone to remove it.

Now that the connection was removed, he felt it may be time to tell Harry about the prophecy.

o-o

Sirius had his trial on the following morning, he was soon proven to be innocent, and he was declared a legal guardian of Harry.

After he arrived back into Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, he felt happier. After he told Harry that the Ministry declared him to be his guardian, Harry felt better, he finally had someone who could look after him.

"Currently, the Ministry workers are being investigated," Arthur said to Harry that evening. "Amos wanted to make sure that the Death Eaters are kept out of the Ministry."

"So the Daily Prophet is bound to report that Voldemort had returned," Harry said.

"Indeed," Arthur answered.

On the following morning, the Daily Prophet arrived.

Harry took it and began reading.

**He Who Must Not Be Named Returns**

_The new Minister of Magic, Amos Diggory, had told the Daily Prophet that He Who Must Not Be Named had returned._

_Albus Dumbledore has now been reinstated the Chief Warlock of Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of International Confederation of Wizards. _

_Sirius Black, who was accused of murdering thirteen Muggles, and betraying the Potters' was found innocent yesterday morning, and he was declared Harry's guardian._

_The Ministry is still looking for Peter Pettigrew, who was currently on the loose._

_A few of the Death Eaters were found to be working in the Ministry of Magic, including Lucius Malfoy._

_The Ministry is currently publishing guides about elementary home and personal defense guides which will be delivered free to all the Wizarding homes in September._

After Harry finished reading the Daily Prophet, he placed it down on the table.

He hoped that Peter Pettigrew would get caught soon enough, except that it may not be as easy, given that Peter was an unregistered Animagus.

o-o

Minerva McGonagall was not in a good mood.

She couldn't be any happier after she discovered that Sirius was innocent, that he was now Harry's guardian.

She did not approve Albus letting Harry stay with the Dursleys in the first place, and Sirius was falsely accused of betraying the Potters' and killing thirteen Muggles. He was sent to Azkaban, and Dumbledore did nothing about it.

She wondered why Dumbledore hired Snape, and she had seen certain students not wanting to get to NEWT Potions class because of him.

She knew about Snape's past, but all the same, she didn't think it was a good idea to let Snape get away with anything.

Thinking back, Slytherin had won the House Cup six years in a row, except now Gryffindor was in the lead. She felt that Snape was one of the reasons that Gryffindor didn't win in the past because he docked too many points and didn't seem to care about what the Slytherins did to the students in other houses. The honoured house system was being made a mockery because of him. If he was fair to all the students, this wouldn't have happened as often.

_This isn't what a Head of Slytherin should act like, _she thought.

She half wished that Snape was not the Head of Slytherin. Head of Slytherin should be in charge of the Slytherins. Ambition and Cunning are not the same as leniency to wrongdoing, overall. Snape was more like the opposite.

If the Slytherins did something bad to anyone in the other houses Snape would just ignore them, taking as if nothing happened; this would only give more opportunities for the Slytherins to do whatever they want to anyone in the other houses without getting punished.

She didn't know why Dumbledore overlooked all this, but she felt that she could no longer tolerate it. What good would it do if the Slytherins went darker and darker, and become Death Eaters, or Dark wizards?

She knew that speaking to Albus Dumbledore about the matter would most likely not change anything; so she decided to speak to her fellow staff about this. To her, it won't matter whether Snape was sacked or removed from the Head of Slytherin position.

If the Board of Governors gets involved in this matter, Dumbledore would have his hands tied.

o-o

Over the following two weeks, Harry and Hermione kept their relationship a secret from everyone else, and when there were only the two of them, they would be reading books.

Ron had still wanted Harry to play chess with him, and Harry agreed to play with him on certain occasions, in other times, he told Ron that he was too busy.

"I never saw you this busy before, Harry," Ron said. "You spent too much time with a bookworm."

"You can join us if you want," Harry said.

"No thanks," Ron said.

On the last week of August, Ron approached Hermione.

"What's the matter, Ron?" Hermione asked.

"I need you to help me with something," Ron answered, then he pulled out his homework.

Hermione took it and glanced at it.

"Ron, you are just halfway through these essays, better get a move on and finish them," she advised.

"Finish it for me," Ron said.

Hermione let out a sigh.

_Don't know if I should do it or not,_ she muttered.

Before she could make a decision, she heard footsteps approaching, and she put Ron's parchment down.

"What?" Ron asked.

Before Hermione could answer, Arthur appeared.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Ron still hadn't finished his homework yet," Hermione said. "He asked me to finish it for him."

Arthur turned to Ron.

"What were you doing during the last few weeks, Ron?" he asked.

"Having fun," Ron answered.

"This is your OWL year, Ron," Arthur said. "You need to study more, or else you will have to repeat."

Ron reluctantly nodded.

"And don't you try to let anyone else do your homework for you again," Arthur went on.

Ron shook his head and stormed out of the room.

o-o

On the last day of the holiday, the Hogwarts letters arrived.

As Harry opened his letter, he found a badge labelled 'P', and he found that he only need to buy one book, The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5.

A moment later, Hermione arrived.

"Harry, did you get one?" she asked, pointing at the prefect badge in her hand.

"Yes, I did," Harry answered.

"You should tell Sirius about this," Hermione said.

"I'll tell him later," Harry said. "This isn't something that I need to do in a hurry."

As soon as they handed their letter to Molly, Molly told them that she will buy the book from Diagon Alley.

Then she set off.

During dinner time, Harry told Sirius that he was made a prefect.

"Really? Congratulations," Sirius said. "I have never been a prefect myself, had too much detention with James. Remus got the badge, along with your mother."

"Dumbledore made me a prefect, hoping that I could exercise some control over Sirius and James, and I have to admit that I failed to do my duty in a disgracefully bad way," Remus said.

"Arthur and I had been prefects when we were in Hogwarts from our fifth year," Molly said.

"What responsibility will I have for being a prefect?" Harry asked.

"You have the right to dock points, not from prefects, though, you can hand out punishments, confiscate inappropriate possessions from others," Remus said. "You will need to patrol the corridors during the evening at Hogwarts, making sure that no one breaks curfew. You have a special bathroom to use."

"Harry," Arthur said. "I trust that you don't abuse your position as a prefect."

"I won't," Harry nodded.

"And you better not cause chaos this year," Remus went on, nodding.

"You will need to patrol the corridors while on the train," Arthur went on.

Fred and George, meanwhile, were financing their joke shop with Mundungus, and they hurried away when they heard about Harry asking about the responsibilities of prefect duties.

After dinner, Hermione asked Harry if she could borrow Hedwig to send a letter to her parents, telling them that she was made a prefect, and Harry agreed.

"I wonder who would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year," Harry said.

"Just as long as it is not Snape, it doesn't matter," Ron said.

"I wondered who would be the Quidditch captain this year," Harry said.

A/N: Does Harry need to go to the Kings Cross station with a guard this time, given that he no longer has the Horcrux in his head?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Back to School**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

Friday 1st September 1995

On the following day, Molly woke Harry and Ron up at around nine o'clock, and they went down to the hall for breakfast.

It took everyone twenty minutes to finish eating.

"How long will it take for us to get to the Kings Cross?" asked Fred.

"Twenty minutes if you want to walk there from here," Arthur said. "Allow yourself extra time just in case."

"You will need to go to the Kings Cross station with a guard, Harry," Remus said. "Voldemort is back, and we are there to protect you, just in case."

At twenty-five minutes past ten, everyone set off for the Kings Cross.

By the time they arrived, it was a quarter to eleven.

As they crept past the barrier of Platform Nine and Three Quarters, they went on board.

"Let's find a compartment and sit down," Ron said.

"Not us, we need to go to the Prefect compartment," Hermione said.

"Right, I'll see you later, then," Ron said.

As they crept into the Prefect compartment, they saw the prefects from the other houses.

Harry was relieved to see that Draco Malfoy wasn't there, so he assumed that Draco wasn't made a prefect. Ernie and Hannah were sitting together, along with Anthony and Padma, plus four people that Harry and Hermione did not recognise. Two of them were Head Boy Raymond Taylor and Head Girl Abby Ross.

"You've made it, excellent," Raymond said, then he introduced himself and Abby to the Prefects.

As Harry and Hermione introduced themselves, they asked the name of the remaining unidentified boy and girl who they did not know.

"My name is Blaise Zabini, and this is Tracey Davis," Blaise answered.

"Welcome, new Prefects," Raymond said. "You have been chosen for this position by Dumbledore and the Heads of House because they feel you are the best people for the job. It's your job to help enforce the rules. Prefects have the power to deduct House Points and assign detentions. Do not abuse your position, or else your prefect badge will be taken away."

"At least this year Draco Malfoy will be much less likely to do anything to us," Harry said.

"I am not going to let him causing too much chaos this year," Blaise said.

"Here is good news for you all," Tracey said. "Professor Snape is no longer teaching at Hogwarts."

"How did you know that?" asked Hermione.

"My mother was on the Board of Governors, and she told me that," Tracey answered.

"How did you feel about this?" asked Harry.

"Both surprised and relieved," Tracey answered.

"Dumbledore trusted Snape," Hermione said.

"What do you think would happen if Snape was still teaching at Hogwarts?" Tracey asked.

"Draco Malfoy would be chosen as prefect, I bet," Harry answered, "unless if Snape is no longer the Head of Slytherin."

Tracey nodded.

"Harry, Hermione, go and patrol the corridors," Raymond said.

"What is the password to Gryffindor Tower?" asked Harry.

"Mimbuius mimbletonia," Raymond said. "Sorry about this, I forgot."

Harry and Hermione patrolled the corridors for one hour, then Anthony and Padma arrived.

"Now it is our turn to patrol the corridors, you two may go and have a break," Anthony said.

After Harry and Hermione went back to the compartment where Ron was, they saw Ginny, Neville, and Dean sitting together, with a blond girl that they didn't recognise.

"How are you doing?" asked Ron.

"We are doing fine, had a meeting in the prefect compartment, and we were asked to patrol the corridors," Harry answered.

"This is Luna Lovegood," Ginny said, indicating the blond girl. "She's in my year, in Ravenclaw."

A moment later, the lunch trolley arrived, and Harry bought himself some food and began eating.

"How's your summer, Harry?" asked Luna.

"Better than before," Harry answered.

"I've heard from the Daily Prophet that Sirius was innocent," Luna said.

"That's right," Harry agreed. "Peter Pettigrew is still alive."

"Who are the prefects from the other houses?" asked Ron.

"Hannah Abbot and Ernie Macmillan in Hufflepuff," Harry answered.

"Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil in Ravenclaw," Hermione went on.

"Guess who are the Slytherin prefects," Harry challenged.

"Draco Malfoy," Ron said at once.

Harry laughed.

"Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis," he said.

"I don't see a difference," Ron said.

"Just wait and see," Harry said.

One hour later, Draco Malfoy burst in the compartment.

"What have we got here. Oh, you two got your prefect position," he sneered.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked.

"The Daily Prophet had reported the return of the Dark Lord," Draco said. "My father is in prison right now, and my mother is a bit stricter to me than before."

"Do you like it or not?" asked Harry.

"Not quite," Draco Malfoy said.

"And you have no idea what changes Hogwarts would have?" asked Hermione.

"What are you talking about, you Mudblood bitch?" Draco asked.

Before Harry could say anything, the compartment door burst open, it was Tracey Davis and Blaise Zabini.

"If you think you can cause chaos this year, Draco, you are going to regret it," Blaise said.

Draco Malfoy turned around.

"And what are you two doing here?" he asked, then he stared at their prefect badges.

"I've heard what you said, Draco," Tracey said. "Just what exactly does this mean?"

"None of your business," Draco said.

"Get out of here, Draco!" Blaise ordered, and Draco Malfoy crept past them, out of sight.

"Draco always thinks that Purebloods are better than Muggleborns," Hermione said.

"I know what Mudblood means," Blaise said. "A foul name for those who are Muggleborn."

Ron didn't speak, he had no idea how to deal with the Slytherins.

"This year is not going to be easy for me," he said. "With those two being the prefects."

"What do you mean, Ron?" asked Harry.

"Don't know what they are going to do to me this year," Ron answered.

"Didn't you see what happened just now?" asked Hermione. "Blaise and Tracey just got in here, and they told Draco Malfoy off."

"Maybe Blaise and Tracey only said that because they didn't want to feel embarrassed with you two around," Ron said.

"If you think that all the Slytherin students are bad..." Harry began.

"I am pretty sure that all of them are bad," Ron interrupted.

"Not all of them," Hermione said. "Do you not even want to greet Tracey?"

"I am not going to speak to any Slytherins," said Ron.

"Maybe you don't feel safe speaking to any of the Slytherins," Harry said. "I knew Draco Malfoy is not good, but you can't just discount Tracey simply because she's a Slytherin. If you were sorted into Slytherin, what would have happened?"

"I would have gone straight back home if that was the case," Ron answered.

"So you would rather that the Slytherin House does not exist?" asked Hermione.

Ron nodded.

"Maybe you will understand later," Harry said. "Even Blaise Zabini isn't a bad student, he even told us that he will make sure that Draco Malfoy won't cause too much chaos this year."

"I don't trust him, so how could you trust him so easily?" asked Ron. "Even if he said it, it could be that he didn't want to make the other prefects hate him."

"And now you are trying to make up excuses for not associating with the Slytherins, aren't you?" Harry asked, and Ron nodded.

"Don't you dare bring any Slytherin students near me," he said.

"What if you met one of them, Ron?" asked Hermione.

"I would turn back and walk away, or I would not speak to them politely, any of them," Ron answered.

"If you rather cause havoc when a conflict occurs than letting the authorities handle it, you will regret it," Hermione said.

"I thought we are supposed to be friends," Ron said.

"We are on your side, but we are not going to have your back if you do something wrong and get punished for it," Harry said, and Hermione nodded. "Mind you, behave yourself."

As the train stopped, Harry and Hermione got off, followed by the other Gryffindors.

They were surprised to see that Professor Grubbly Plank was there.

"First years, over here please," she said.

She led them to the carriages, and Harry and Hermione sat down together.

After the carriages stopped, Harry got out of it first, followed by Hermione.

As they got into the Great Hall, they sat down together, while Ginny and Neville sat down opposite them, and Luna headed for the Ravenclaw table.

Harry looked upon the Teachers table, discovering that Snape and Hagrid were both absent. Instead, there were some new faces. He knew that Tracey was right when she told him that Snape was not teaching in Hogwarts anymore.

He wondered where Hagrid had gone.

A moment later, Professor McGonagall led the first years into the Great Hall.

After the Sorting Hat sang its song, Professor McGonagall began to call out the first years. The first student, Euan Abercrumble, was sorted into Gryffindor, and at the end, a student called Rose Zeller was sorted into Hufflepuff.

Albus Dumbledore got to his feet.

"Welcome to a new year in Hogwarts," he said. "To our newcomers, welcome, to our old friends, welcome back! There is a time for speech-making, but that's not it, Tuck in."

The food appeared on the table as usual, and Harry began to fill his plate.

He noticed that Ron was filling his plate in a rushed manner, and his eating habits were not appropriate at all. Ron put too much food into his mouth, and he often talked while eating, making other people unable to hear him clearly when he speaks.

When all the students finished eating, the noise level in the Hall crept upwards again. Dumbledore got to his feet, and the talking stopped as the students turned to face the Headmaster.

"First years shall know that the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all students, and a few of our older students shall know that by now, too."

"Mr Filch, the caretaker, had reminded me once again to remind you guys that no magic is allowed to be used in the corridors."

"Quidditch tryouts are going to take place on the second week of term, anyone interested should see Madam Hooch!"

"We have several staff changes this year, first as you can see that Professor Snape is no longer with us as he's gone to pursue other things."

A burst of applause erupted from the students, though some of the Slytherins shook their heads.

"The new Head of Slytherin will be Professor Sinestra, who herself was a former Slytherin," Dumbledore went on.

"The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher will be Professor Alex Webb, and Professor Grubbly Plank will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures while Hagrid is absent. Professor Horace Slughorn will be teaching Potions."

The students applauded again, and Draco Malfoy was dumbfounded.

"Snape is gone now," Ron whispered.

"That is good for all of us," Harry agreed.

"Now your bed awaits," Dumbledore said.

Harry and Hermione stood up.

"First years, this way," Harry said.

He and Hermione led the first years into the Gryffindor Tower, towards the portrait hole, the Fat Lady said 'Password'.

"Mimbuius mimbletonia," Harry said quietly, and the portrait hole opened.

As everyone entered the Gryffindor common room, Hermione bid goodnight to Harry, and she went to the girls' dormitory, whereas Harry went to the boys' dormitory.

As soon as he was inside the dormitory, he saw Dean, Seamus, Neville and Ron.

"How do you feel that Snape is not here anymore?" Harry asked Ron.

"Better," Ron answered. "That doesn't change my opinion about the Slytherins, though."

Harry shook his head as he climbed onto the bed.

A/N:

With Snape gone, and Blaise and Tracey being the prefects in Slytherin, Draco Malfoy will have a harder time causing trouble this year.

There won't be any class on the following two days, because according to the calendar of the real world, the first day of September is Friday in 1995, which means that the second day of September is Saturday. The class will start on the 4th of September.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

****A Thing Leads to Disunity****

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

On the following day, Harry woke up and got dressed, then he went down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Hermione arrived and sat down next to him.

After breakfast, Professor McGonagall handed out the timetables.

Then Angelina, the chaser of Gryffindor Quidditch team, arrived in front of Harry.

"Hi Harry," she said. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," Harry answered.

"I have been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," Angelina said. "I am going to hold a trial next Friday, at five o'clock in the afternoon. We need a new keeper, now that Oliver has left, and I want the whole team to be there."

She stared at the prefect badge on Harry's robe.

"Hopefully this won't interrupt your duty as a prefect," she said.

Harry nodded.

Knowing that today was Saturday, Harry and Hermione left the Great Hall after they received their timetables, then they went back to the common room.

"We have History of Magic first thing in the morning," Harry said as he reviewed his timetable.

"You don't need to worry about Potions this year, at least, as you will be taught properly, I believe," Hermione said. "Just study hard."

Harry nodded.

After he reviewed his timetable, he relaxed for a moment, and then he took out his books and began to read.

A moment later, they glanced at the noticeboard.

_Gallons of Galleons_

_Pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings?_

_ Like to earn a little extra gold?_

_ Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor common room,_

_ for simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs. _

_ (We regret that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk. ) _

"Don't know what the hell they are doing," Harry said.

"They are not supposed to advertise their products on the students here," Hermione said. "We need to put a stop on this."

"If that advertisement means that they want to let anyone work for them, get money from them for selling their products to the students in this school, this will be the last thing they would do," Harry said.

"Remember your responsibility as a prefect," Hermione said. "We should go and speak to Fred and Geroge."

Harry nodded in agreement.

"I bet we should," he said. "Beware that there is a possibility that Ron may sever his relationship with us because of this."

"Ron may get madder if he finds out that we are dating, anyway," Hermione said. "You don't have to care if he severs his relationship with you because you stopped Fred and George. You still have me on your side."

Harry nodded.

A moment later, Ron entered the common room.

"First time we don't have classes on the day after the first of September," he said, sitting down on the chair.

"But you should get a move on when we do have classes," Harry said. "It might be better if you start now."

Then he began to pore over books again.

"You still have Quidditch, though," Ron said.

"I know," Harry said. "If I have spare time, I will most likely study."

Two hours later, they went down to the Great Hall for lunch.

Fred and George sat a few feet away from Harry and Hermione, and they were whispering to Ron.

After lunch, Harry and Hermione cornered Fred and George.

"I have seen you both advertising your products on the noticeboard after breakfast," Hermione said.

"What about it?" Fred asked.

"Do you think that noticeboard is something you could use to advertise anything?" asked Harry.

"Where else should we advertise our products?" asked George.

"If you do this outside the school, we won't say anything, but testing your products on any students here is prohibited," Harry answered.

"You know what, Harry. We don't care about breaking rules, and we don't think we need NEWTs. We had debated whether we should come back for our seventh year," Fred said.

"Even so, if you don't heed our warning, you will regret it later," Harry said.

"Let's go, Harry," Hermione said, and Harry nodded.

Then they went outside to enjoy some sunshine.

As soon as they got back to the Gryffindor common room, Ron came over.

"Fred and George told me what you told them after lunch," he said.

"What about it?" asked Harry. "Do you want to let them test their products on you or something?"

"No, it's not that," Ron said.

"If you want to turn this place into a joke shop, then you are mistaken," Harry said.

"That's right, this is a school, not a joke shop," Hermione agreed. "We are here to learn, not to prank others."

"We had to warn them," Harry said.

Ron didn't know what to say.

"Fred and George said that they don't care about breaking rules," Hermione said.

Ron said nothing. He got up and paced back and forth.

"Maybe we can go outside and relax a bit," he said.

"Sure, but I am not going to have too much time to do it this year," Harry said. "My time is tight."

"What do you mean 'your time is tight'?" Ron asked.

"I have Quidditch practise, right, and I want to study for my OWLs," Harry answered.

"Our OWLs are ages away," Ron said.

"And you want to wait until the exam comes?" asked Harry.

"No, but..."

"But what? You want to wait until Easter?" asked Harry.

Ron didn't say anything.

"We only have eight months until our OWL exams," Hermione said. "That's like two hundred and forty days."

"And do you know how much time Quidditch would take me?" asked Harry. "I had to fit my homework around Quidditch every day during my third year before the Quidditch Final. I hope this doesn't happen to me this year."

Ron stared at Harry.

"If you are going to be on the Quidditch team this year, your time will be consumed too," Harry went on.

"We have prefect duties too," Hermione added.

"And if I am on the team, I am going to make sure we win," Ron finally blurted out.

"Do you only care about winning matches?" asked Harry.

Before Ron could answer, Ginny, Dean and Lavender entered.

"What are you three arguing about?" Dean asked.

"Ron, I can come with you for a bit, but I'll say it again, my time is tight," Harry said.

"Just don't waste your time, Harry," Hermione said.

Harry nodded.

Then he and Ron got out of the portrait hole.

They walked along the corridors until they were out in the school grounds.

They saw Blaise Zabini and Tracey Davis, along with another girl beside Tracey.

"Harry, why don't you come here for a bit?" Blaise asked.

"Sure," Harry said, but Ron just walked away. "Ron, maybe you can meet them too."

"I am not going to talk to any Slytherins," Ron said, not turning back.

Harry sat down for a moment.

"Harry, this is Daphne Greengrass, she's a Slytherin, too," Tracey introduced, gesturing the girl beside her.

"Hi Daphne," Harry greeted.

"Hi Harry," Daphne greeted back. "How are you?"

"I am good," Harry answered.

"What have you been up to?" asked Daphne.

"I studied quite a bit today," Harry answered.

"We are all in the same year," Tracey went on.

They talked for about ten minutes, then Harry told them that he will see them again later, then he returned to the Gryffindor Tower, meeting Ron on the way.

"Are you out of your mind, Harry?" Ron asked.

"No," Harry answered. "Tracey just introduced me to Daphne, who was also a Slytherin."

"What's got into you lately, Harry?" asked Ron.

"I could ask you the same question, Ron," Harry said.

As soon as they entered the Gryffindor common room, they saw Hermione still studying.

Harry approached her, and she looked up.

"Are you all right, Harry?" she asked.

"I am all right," Harry answered. "Tracey just introduced me to Daphne, who was also a Slytherin."

"Sounds good," Hermione said. "Maybe I can meet her some time."

"Harry, surely you are not going to cling to the Slytherins, do you?" asked Ron.

"What's wrong with me clinging to them?" asked Harry.

Before Ron could answer, Ginny entered through the portrait hole.

"Slytherins are evil," Ron said.

"I don't think Daphne is evil," Harry said. "Tracey introduced me to her, after all."

"But they are both in Slytherin," Ron said.

"Harry," Ginny said. "Why do you suddenly want to get along with the Slytherins?"

"We had a meeting on the train," Harry answered. "Blaise and Tracey are the Slytherin prefects."

"Ginny, Blaise and Tracey are going to give you a hard time this year," Ron said.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"They will find every excuse to punish you," Ron said.

"I am going to see what Tracey and Blaise are myself," Ginny said. "None of your business what happens to me. If I met Draco, I am..."

"He's not going to make your time easy if you attempt to speak to him!" Ron said, interrupting her.

"And how do you know that you are right?" asked Ginny. "You determine people's good and bad based on what house they are in at Hogwarts, singling out all the Slytherins as if they are nothing. Even if I don't talk to Draco, what about Tracey and Blaise?"

"Why would singling out all the Slytherins be such a big deal?" asked Ron.

"Do you think it is a good thing to have a prejudice against the Muggleborns?" asked Ginny.

"No," Ron answered.

"Then what good would it be if you single out every Slytherin student?" asked Ginny.

"Ron, do I have to tell you again that Snape is no longer here?" Harry asked.

"I don't need to hear this again," Ron said, then he walked out of the portrait hole.

_When will my brother grow up? _Ginny thought.

o-o

As the following day commenced, Harry and Hermione made their way into the library after breakfast, to do a bit more study.

"Maybe you should focus on History of Magic," Hermione suggested. "Knowing something beforehand would save you time."

Harry hesitated.

"We have History of Magic first thing on Monday morning," Hermione said.

Harry nodded.

He opened up 'A History of Magic' and began reading.

One hour later, he put the book down.

"Why did you put your book down, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe you should test me, Hermione," Harry answered.

Hermione hesitated.

"All right, I'll do it," she decided.

She picked out ten questions from the book and tested Harry, and Harry managed to get six of them right.

"You are making a progress, Harry," she said. "Now just focus on the questions you have trouble answering."

Harry nodded, and he began to pore over books again.

Half an hour later, Fred and George arrived in the library.

"There you are, Harry, Ron's looking for you," Fred said.

"Tell him to come here," Harry said simply, and Fred nodded.

Ten minutes later, Ron entered the library.

"Hi, Ron, care to join us?" Harry asked.

"I was wondering if you could join me," Ron answered.

"Are you doing any work yet?" asked Harry.

Ron shook his head.

"No, I can't, I still have a lot to do," Harry said.

"Ron, maybe it would be better if you join us," Hermione suggested.

Ron ignored her.

"I think Hermione's right," Harry said.

"What do you mean?" asked Ron.

"Look, I know that History of Magic is a boring subject, but I can't just skive off that class. What's better than studying beforehand so that I can at least get something into my mind?" Harry answered. "The same can be said for you."

Ron didn't know what to say.

"Classes hadn't even started yet," he said finally, then he walked off.

As he was on his way back to the common room, he met Ginny, talking with Tracey and Blaise.

"Ginny, who are you talking with?" he asked.

Ginny looked up.

"Ron, what is it to you that I talk to Tracey?" she asked.

"Get away from my sister, you Slytherins!" Ron yelled.

Tracey and Blaise were both astounded.

"We didn't do anything to her," Tracey said.

Ron shook his head.

"I don't trust you, Tracey," he said.

Then he walked off.

A moment later, he met Draco Malfoy along with Pansy Parkinson. He crept past them, heading back to the common room, but then he met Blaise, Tracey and Ginny.

Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson arrived a moment later.

"Two students in our house seemed to be getting along with a Weasley," Draco said.

Pansy giggled.

"I can see that Davis and Zabini would become Blood traitors, too," Draco added.

"What is it to you that we become Blood traitors?" asked Blaise.

"I thought we are supposed to be united, keeping ourselves away from those people who are Blood traitors," Draco said.

"You are such a blood purist, Draco," Tracey said.

Before Draco could say anything, he saw Justin and Colin arriving in their direction.

"Now I can see two Mudbloods arriving in our direction," he sneered.

"Draco!" Blaise warned.

"What is it to you that I am using that word?" Draco asked, turning to Blaise.

"Twenty points from Slytherin!" Blaise said sternly.

Draco was dumbfounded, then he walked away with Pansy.

Then Justin and Colin saw Ginny.

Colin knew Ginny well; since he was in her year.

Together, they approached her.

"Who are these people beside you?" asked Colin.

Tracey and Blaise introduced themselves, and then they asked Colin what was his name.

"Colin Creevey," Colin answered. "What house are you in?"

"Blaise and I are in Slytherin," Tracey said.

"You don't need to panic," Blaise went on. "We are not like the blood purists, such as Draco Malfoy, who alienates himself from Muggleborns, thinking that they are not worthy of any respect in the Wizarding world."

"It's good to see you," Colin said.

He and Justin sat down next to Tracey and Blaise, and Daphne arrived a few moments later, with another girl beside her.

"Colin, this is Daphne Greengrass," Tracey introduced.

"And my name is Astoria Greengrass," the girl beside Daphne introduced herself.

A moment later, Ron arrived, and he saw Justin and Colin sitting with the Slytherins, he was angry.

"Colin, Justin, can't you just get away from those Slytherins?" he asked.

"What are you talking about, Ron?" Colin asked.

"Do you remember that the Slytherin monster had petrified you and Justin a few years ago?" asked Ron.

Ginny's face turned red.

"Shut it!" she blurted out, feeling guilty about what happened in her first year, then she burst into tears.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" asked Ron.

"Don't ask me," Ginny answered, then she stormed off.

o-o

At lunchtime, Harry and Hermione could see Draco sitting far away from Tracey and Blaise, whispering to his fellow Slytherins. They wondered what was going on.

They made their way back to the Gryffindor common room after lunch, only to see Ginny's agitating expression.

"What's wrong, Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"It was Ron..." Ginny sobbed.

As she finished telling Hermione what happened, Hermione turned to Harry.

"Maybe we should have a word with Ron," she said.

Harry nodded.

"We will do this in the evening," he said. "Meanwhile, you could test me again, Hermione."

Hermione nodded.

This time, Harry answered eight of the ten questions Hermione asked him correctly, and Hermione suggested him to aim at the last two questions.

"Adding a few questions on top of that, maybe," Harry suggested.

"Two more maybe," Hermione agreed.

Harry spent another half an hour revising the two questions that he answered wrong, as well as the two new questions he would answer next. Then he asked Hermione to test him again.

This time, he got all of them right.

"Maybe we can go over some other things," Hermione suggested.

"Good idea," Harry agreed. "I missed the exams last year due to the Tri-Wizard Tournament, it would be good to catch up a bit."

He began to read his Potions book; since he wasn't good at this subject, though he hopes that he would not be too bad at this subject this year, now that Slughorn is taking the post.

o-o

After dinner, Harry and Hermione cornered Ron in the Gryffindor common room.

"Ron, can you explain what happened this morning?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean what happened?" asked Ron.

"Ginny is upset," Hermione explained.

Ron knew he could not hide it, so he decided to tell Harry and Hermione what happened.

After he finished telling Harry and Hermione what happened, Harry raised an eyebrow.

"You brought up the subject of the Slytherin monster that attacked the Muggleborns, including Hermione, in our second year, right in front of Ginny," he said. "Do you know how upset she was, attacking the Muggleborns; and how much she had gone through?"

"I know," Ron said.

"Then why are you telling Justin and Colin about the Slytherin monster right in front of Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"I just want them to get away from the Slytherins," Ron said.

"And yet you stirred up another problem," Harry said. "I don't know what Ginny will think of you now."

Ron considered for a moment, then he left.

A/N: Will Ginny forgive Ron for what he did? If yes, how long will it take for her to forgive him?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Alex Webb**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

On the following day, Harry got up from his bed and dressed, then he went into the common room, meeting Hermione and Ron. Together, they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

After breakfast, they set off for their History of Magic class.

As they entered the History of Magic classroom, they took their seats.

For the period, Harry tried to listen to Professor Binns, though he didn't feel interested in the lecture. Ron, who was sitting on his right side, spent an hour playing hangman with Seamus.

At the end of the class, they went to their next class, which was Potions.

As they were on their way to the Potions class, Harry met Cho.

After a brief conversation, he walked off, continuing his way into the Potions class.

As he joined the queue of the Potions class, they entered.

Professor Slughorn was already there, watching the students arrive. After all the students arrived, he began his lesson.

"Good day," he said. "I believe that you had Severus Snape as your Potions teacher for the past four years, right?"

The class nodded.

"Before we begin today's lesson, I want to remind you that this year is an important year for you, your Ordinary Wizarding Level exam is going to take place at the end of this year. If you want to continue onto my NEWT potions class, you must get at least Exceeds Expectations in your OWL exam."

"Today, we are going to be brewing the Draught of Peace, but before we start, who can tell me what Draught of Peace is?" he asked.

Hermione raised her hand.

"Miss"

"- Granger, professor," Hermione said. "Draught of Peace is a potion that relieves anxiety and agitation."

"Correct," Professor Slughorn said. "Ten points to Gryffindor."

"Now, if you add too much of the ingredients into the potion, you will put the drinker into a heavy, and sometimes, irreversible sleep," he went on. "Please turn your book, Magical Drafts and Potions, to page thirty-five."

Harry took out his copy of 'Magical Drafts and Potions' book and rummaged to page thirty-five, and he began to brew.

He felt more relaxed, but he couldn't take his eyes off from the book. After carefully measured the ingredients and added them in his cauldron in the right order.

Then he noticed a silver vapour emitted out of his cauldron. He knew he had done it.

Ron, however, only managed to get a sulphurous odour.

As the lesson ended, Slughorn asked everyone to fill one flagon of their potions, labelled with their name and turn them in for testing.

When Goyle filled his flagon, it shattered and set his robes on fire.

"What is this, what is this?" Slughorn asked.

He pulled out his wand and extinguished the fire.

"Mr Goyle, no marks for you, sorry, but there must be something wrong with your potion," he said. "You need to follow the instructions carefully next time, or else you will not be able to brew your potions properly."

Then he asked the students to produce a twelve-inch essay on the properties of moonstone and its use for potion making, to be handed in on Monday.

At the end of the class, Draco Malfoy was not impressed.

"I wished that Snape was still here," he said.

o-o

As Harry went into his Divination class after lunch, Professor Trelawney talked about Dream Interpretations, and the students were asked to keep a dream diary for a month as homework.

"This year is not easy," Ron said.

"I know, but I can get through it," Harry said.

As soon as they arrived at their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Professor Alex Webb was already in the classroom.

As the students sat down, they took out their copy of 'The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5' and placed them on their desks.

"You won't be needing the books today," Professor Webb said. "Today we are going to be doing mostly practical work."

"Before we begin, I have to say that this job was jinxed by Voldemort, that no teachers had lasted more than one year," he said. "This year, you will be pleased to know that I will remove the jinx; so that I can stay permanently in this position."

Some students stared at Professor Webb in disbelief.

"This may sound unbelievable, but I don't need to tell you how I will remove it," he said.

"Anyway, the spell I am going to teach you today is called the throwing spell, and the incantation is 'Everte Statum'," he went on. "It throws you back several feet from the stadium."

"We will say the incantation without our wands first, one, two, three..."

"Everte Statum!" the students shouted.

"Good. This spell does nothing more than throwing the caster back from the stadium, so don't panic. You will be taking turns doing it; because this room is not large enough for all of you to do this spell at once."

"Now, I would like you all to come to the front," he continued.

After the students got to their feet and arrived at the front, Professor Webb waved his wand at the room, making the desks and chairs move to one side.

"Please find yourself a partner, so you can start practising," he said.

Harry looked around, a moment later he found Hermione stood few feet away from him, and she found a partner already, which was Lavender, so he decided to pair up with Dean, who was right beside him. He felt it would be better to not show everyone else that he was in a relationship with Hermione, not yet.

Draco Malfoy looked around, and found Blaise was right beside him, as he looked for his friends, Crabbe and Goyle, he found them picked their partners at random, Crabbe with Nott and Goyle with Bulstrode, not having any choice, he paired up with Blaise. Pansy had to pair up with Daphne. Ron was paired up with Seamus.

After everyone found their partners, Professor Webb called them one pair after another.

As soon as it was Harry's turn, he and Dean walked up to the empty area, facing each other, wands aloft.

"Everte Statum!" Harry shouted, pointing his wand at Dean, blasting him several feet away from where he stood.

Dean got up, and then he sent the same spell at Harry, throwing him several feet away from where he stood.

"You two did well, take ten points each," Professor Webb said. "Next pair."

After everyone had taken their turns, Professor Webb dismissed them without any homework.

"That was a great lesson, wasn't it?" asked Ron.

"Yes," Harry answered. "One of the best Defense teachers we ever had."

They went down to the Great Hall for dinner.

Harry and Hermione realised that Ginny took seats a few feet away from Ron, so they assumed that she was still angry with him.

As they went back into the Gryffindor common room after dinner, Harry sat down, then he began to do the Potions essay for Slughorn.

Upon finishing the essay, he went through it again, just to make sure that he didn't say anything wrong.

Then he turned to Hermione.

"Finished with Slughorn's essay?" he asked.

"Yes," Hermione answered. "What about you?"

"Yes, I have," Harry answered.

"Would you like me to look over it?" asked Hermione.

"It would be good if you do," Harry answered, handing his essay to her.

"You did pretty much all right," Hermione said, handing the essay back to him.

Ron, who was sitting a few feet away from Harry, spent half an hour on the essay, then he stood up.

"I am off," he said.

Hermione took Ron's essay, and she was shocked when she glanced at it.

"Ron, you haven't even met Slughorn's requirement yet," she said. "you need to continue with this."

"Read it up and finish it for me, will you?" asked Ron.

Hermione shook her head, then she put his essay down.

"Read it up and finish it for me," Ron repeated.

"Can't you just read the book and finish it up yourself?" Hermione asked. "How can you expect to get a good grade when your essay is in this state?"

Ron took his essay, placed it in his bag and headed to the boys' dormitory.

"Ron!" Harry called out as he approached the boys' dormitory.

"What?" asked Ron.

"Did you do your History of Magic essay yet?" he asked.

"I'll do it tomorrow," Ron said. "It won't be due until next Monday."

"Even if you managed to finish it, what about your other homework?" asked Harry.

Ron didn't answer, but he walked away.

Harry looked at him and sighed, then he began to do his dream diary.

Since he had no more dreams about Voldemort, it was easier to come up with dreams, so he managed to finish it within about one hour.

Then he began to do his History of Magic essay.

After he finished it, he looked at the patrol schedule.

"It's our turn, let's go and patrol the corridors until ten," he said.

Hermione nodded.

Together, they walked out of the common room.

After ensuring that no one was breaking curfew, they returned to the Gryffindor common room at ten o'clock.

After they bid each other goodnight, they parted ways.

o-o

After breakfast on the following day, Harry had Double Charms the first thing in the morning.

Professor Flitwick told the students that the OWL examinations may influence their future, then he stated that they should consider their careers if they hadn't done so yet.

Then he spent over an hour revising Summoning Charms, which he stated would be coming up in the OWL exam. At the end of the class, he set a large amount of Charms homework on the students.

Double Transfiguration was proceeded by Double Charms.

Professor McGonagall explained to the students that they would start to practise on Vanishing Spells, which was easier than Conjuring Spell, but still difficult enough, and that it was bound to come up in the OWL exam.

It was difficult, a lot of students, including Harry, couldn't vanish the snail that Professor McGonagall had given them, except for Hermione, who managed to vanish her snail on her third attempt, so she didn't get any homework that day, whereas the others were asked to practise the Vanishing Spell for homework.

The remaining two classes, Care of Magical Creatures and Herbology, went through smoothly.

Ron was not too happy at dinnertime.

"Do you know how much homework Flitwick had given us?" he asked. "And Professor Sprout had given us another essay to do."

"You could have done your History of Magic essay last evening," Harry said.

"And your potions essay is not done yet, you better get a move on now, Ron," Hermione said. "Even Professor Slughorn won't be pleased with the current state of your essay."

Ron merely sighed.

After dinner, Harry went back to the Gryffindor common room with Hermione, and they began to do the Charms homework.

It took him more than one hour to finish it, then he began to do his Herbology essay, which took him about fifty minutes to finish.

Then he spent some time practising the Vanishing Spell.

"What's the time now?" he asked.

Hermione checked her watch.

"A quarter to nine," she answered.

"I'll practise for another fifteen minutes, then I will go to bed," Harry said.

The last fifteen minutes, however, didn't improve him on this.

"Don't worry," Hermione said after fifteen minutes. "You can practise it again tomorrow. Professor McGonagall did not set a due date on this spell."

o-o

On the following day, Harry still had trouble with the Vanishing Spell in Transfiguration, but after several attempts, he managed to vanish his snail.

He decided to try again, just in case, so he asked Professor McGonagall for another one, and she gave it to him. This time, he was successful at the spell.

"Hmm..." Professor McGonagall said. "I think you've got it, Potter, maybe you could progress to vanishing mice, which we will be starting soon anyway."

At the end of the class, Professor McGonagall gave the students another essay as their homework.

o-o

At five o'clock on Friday afternoon, Harry went down to the Quidditch pitch with his Quidditch team. Ron was there as well.

"Welcome to the trial everyone," Angelina said. "I am the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, and I am holding tryouts today for a keeper, and our current team members will assist in the tryouts."

"Let's get started," she said finally.

She called out three students – Ron being one of them; and had them take the position in front of the goalposts.

One of them saved three, the other one saved four. Ron, however, saved five.

In the end, Ron was chosen as the keeper.

"Congratulations, Ron," Harry said as Ron reached the ground.

As Harry and Ron entered the changing room, Ron was excited.

"We are going to win this year, again," he said. "I will write home for a broom."

"Let's hope that we do win," Harry said.

o-o

Soon enough, the following week emerged, and Harry continued to concentrate on listening to Professor Binns, even though it wasn't interesting.

As the Gryffindors arrived in Slughorn's Potions class again, Slughorn handed their moonstone essay back.

"A lot of you have received Dreadful grade," he said. "Some of you have received Poor, and some of you have received Acceptable grade. There is only one Exceeds Expectations, and one Outstanding among all of you."

Harry was a little bit anxious about what grade he would get, he only hoped that he doesn't get a Dreadful grade.

As Slughorn handed the essay back, Harry glanced at his essay and found a black E, which made him relieved.

He looked at Hermione's essay and found a black O on her parchment.

"Imagine if this was your exam, most of you would have not been able to continue with your NEWT Potions class," Slughorn went on. "I would expect you to have improved grades as time progresses, unless if you want to fail on this subject."

Ron was startled that he had only received a P in his essay.

"I understand, of course, that with Severus Snape teaching this subject, it caused quite a lot of headache for you guys. If you need any help, come and see me at your leisure so I can do something about your problems."

"Today we are going to brew the Strengthening Solution, but before we start, who can tell me what Strengthening Solution is?"

Harry raised his hand immediately, while Hermione raised her hand a little slower.

"Mr Potter," Slughorn said.

"Strengthening Solution is a potion that grants the drinker immense strength," Harry answered.

"Correct, ten points to Gryffindor," Slughorn said. "Let's start now."

As everyone turned their copies of 'Magical Drafts and Potions' to the page of Strengthening Solution recipe, they began to brew.

Harry carefully read the instructions before taking each step, which caused his potion to turn out just as perfect, a turquoise shade, just like Hermione's.

At the end of the lesson, he handed a sample of his potion to Slughorn.

Ron was in a really bad mood at the end of the class. His two best friends just got top grades, and he didn't even get a pass grade.

"Why didn't you round the essay up and finish it for me?" Ron asked Hermione during lunchtime.

"What do you expect from me?" asked Hermione. "You think I am going to cheat you through this year, do you?"

Before Ron was about to retort, Fred and George arrived.

"Maybe we can offer you a place, Ron, should we open up the joke shop," Fred said.

"Mum won't be pleased with me if this happens," Ron said. "If I tell Professor McGonagall that I want to work in a joke shop, that may lead to a lot of other questions anyway."

"When we had the career counselling in our fifth year in Hogwarts, we told her we want to open a joke shop," Fred said.

"To me, this will be a real question; what if you failed to open the joke shop? Wouldn't that be ruining your future as well as mine if that was the case?" Ron asked. "I want to be a successful Quidditch player, which doesn't need much of academic requirements."

"How long do you think you are going to last in the Quidditch team, Ron?" asked Hermione.

"For my entire life," Ron answered.

"How possible do you think this would be?" asked Hermione. "What if a younger player replaced you?"

"I think Hermione's right," Fred said. "You can't be on the Quidditch team for your whole life."

After lunch, Harry had his Divination class, then he went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class and saw Professor Webb sitting by his desk.

A moment later, Hermione and the rest of the students arrived.

"Let's start this class," he said.

Then he taught the students the Impediment Jinx, which Harry had learnt during his fourth year.

The students were then asked to divide into pairs and use this jinx against each other, and they were awarded points for it.

As the students were dismissed, they went down to the Great Hall for dinner.

"How's Ginny?" Hermione asked Fred.

"She's still upset with Ron," Fred answered. "I don't know how long it will take for her to reconcile with him."

"Did he apologise to her?" asked Hermione.

"I didn't see him doing it," Fred answered.

After dinner, Harry and Hermione made their way to the Gryffindor common room, and they began to do the homework that the teachers had set them.

Ron, Fred and George entered the Gryffindor common room, and then they began to do their homework as well.

As Harry and Hermione went to their next Transfiguration class on the following morning, Professor McGonagall handed Harry's Transfiguration essay back to him.

Harry smiled as he saw that he got an E in his Transfiguration essay.

Then Professor McGonagall handed out a mouse to each student.

She told the students that mice would be more difficult to vanish than snails, due to the fact that the snail is an invertebrate, and the mouse is a mammal.

Harry, however, managed to vanish his mouse in his seventh attempt. Hermione managed to vanish hers in her third attempt. Professor McGonagall awarded them ten points each.

Ron, meanwhile, was still having trouble vanishing his mouse.

At the end of the class, Harry and Hermione went out of the classroom.

"How come you were able to do it, Harry?" Ron asked.

"Practise," Harry answered.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Hogsmeade and First Match**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

Things were quiet over the next two weeks. Harry continued to get Exceeds Expectations, occasionally Outstanding grade in his homework. Most of the Professors were impressed with his grade.

"If you keep up like this, I am sure you will eventually get more Outstanding grades," Hermione told him one evening.

He and Hermione were looking forward to the upcoming Hogsmeade trip, which would be on the seventh of October, and they considered this as their first date.

Ron's grade, meanwhile, was either a fail grade or an Acceptable grade. Some teachers encouraged him to put more effort into his work; so that he can get a better grade.

He occasionally asked Hermione to round up his essay and finish it for him, but Hermione either turned a deaf ear on that; or insisted that he read everything up on his own to finish off his homework.

"Why didn't you join us when we are studying, Ron?" Harry asked.

Ron couldn't find an answer to this question.

_How am I going to get to NEWTs?_ Ron thought.

He felt that he was alone, not that he minded of Harry being a prefect along with Hermione, but the fact that Harry wants to spend less time with him made him feel that Harry put too much time into studying.

He decided to ask Fred and George for help, but they didn't heed him at all.

"Ron, even we could get to NEWTs, how could you not?" Fred asked. "Is Quidditch your only passion?"

Ron nodded.

"Don't know how many times we need to tell him," Fred said to George.

o-o

As the Hogsmeade weekend arrived, Harry, Ron and Hermione went to the entrance of the Great Hall, queuing up in front of Filch, who was matching the names of the list of students who had permission to visit Hogsmeade.

After getting through Filch, they made their way to the village.

Once they entered the village, they went into the Honeydukes.

"Ginny," Fred said. "Who is the boy beside you?"

"Michael Corner," Ginny answered.

Ron, who had overheard Fred was shocked.

He didn't know why Ginny wants to go out with Michael Corner.

"When did you meet him, Ginny?" asked George.

"I met him at the Yule Ball, and we got together at the end of last year," Ginny answered.

"Ginny, what do you think you are playing at?" Ron asked.

Ginny turned and saw Ron, then she walked away.

Ron realised that she was still angry with him for bringing up the fiasco at the beginning of the term, but he was annoyed when he saw Ginny walking up to Tracey to greet her.

He had wanted to say something, but at the moment he decided to keep his mouth shut, in case if he says something wrong that may cause more trouble between his relationship with Ginny.

Then he went to find Harry,

He spotted him in the three broomsticks, along with Hermione and a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, including Cho.

"Hey Ron," Luna said.

"I was looking for Harry," Ron said. "Now I found him."

A moment later, Harry and Hermione turned around and saw Ron.

"Hi Ron," Harry said, holding two tankards of butterbeer and holding one out to him. "Here you are."

Ron took the butterbeer from Harry's hand, then they sat down, opened up their tankards and began drinking.

Once they finished their butterbeer, they went into Honeydukes to buy some sweets, then they visited Gladrags Wizardwear to buy some clothes. Harry knew that he will be needing it; since he did not have the opportunity to buy decent clothes during the summer.

They arrived back into the Gryffindor common room at half-past three in the afternoon, and they rested for a while.

A package arrived in front of Ron during dinnertime, who noticed that it must be a broom, there was also a note.

_Dear Ron_

_We have purchased your broom, a Cleansweep Seven, which should arrive with this letter._

_Regards_

_Molly Weasley._

o-o

Over the following three weeks, Angelina trained her team harder than ever, especially Ron, as he was not as good as Wood. The Quidditch match would be on the first Saturday of November.

On the day that the Quidditch match, Harry went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, then he saw the Slytherins wearing silver crown badges.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked Ron.

Ron nodded.

After breakfast, he went back to the common room, took his Firebolt, and made his way to the changing room.

"We should be able to beat Slytherin again this time," Harry said.

"Let's hope we do," George said.

After they got changed, they went down to the Quidditch pitch.

"I just found out the final line-up for Slytherin," Angelina said. "Last year's beaters, Derrick and Bole, have left, and Montague replaced them with Crabbe and Goyle. I don't know much about them."

"We know about them," Harry and Ron said quietly.

"Well, they don't look bright enough to tell one end of a broom from another," Angelina said.

A moment later, they could hear footsteps mounting the benches of the spectator's stands. Some people were singing, though Harry could not make out the words. He started to feel nervous.

"It's time," Angelina said. "Good luck everyone."

The team rose, carrying their brooms on their shoulders, marched out of the changing room into the dazzling sunlight.

The Slytherin team was waiting for them, and Harry saw them, too, were wearing the silver crown badges.

"Captains, shake hands," Madam Hooch said.

Angelina and Montague reached each other, gripped each other's hands tightly.

"Mount your brooms," Madam Hooch said, then she blew her whistle.

The balls were released and the fourteen players shot into the air. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Ron streak off to the goalhoops. Harry zoomed higher, dodging a Bludger, and set off on a wide lap in the pitch, looking for the snitch. Draco Malfoy was doing exactly the same on the other side of the pitch.

"And it's Johnson –Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me-"

"JORDAN!" Professor McGonagall yelled.

"-just a fun fact, Professor, adds a bit of interest—and she's ducked Warrington, she's passed Montague, she's—ouch-been hit from behind by a Bludger from Crabbe...Montagus catches the Quaffle, Montague heading back up the pitch and—nice Bludger there from George Weasley, that's a Bludger to the Head for Montague, he drops the Quaffle, caught by Katie Bell, Katie Bell of Gryffindor reverse-passes to Alicia Spinnet and Spinnet's away, didges Warrington, avoids a Bludger—close call, Alicia- and the crowd are loving just listen to them, what's that they're singing?"

And as Lee paused to listen, the song rose loud and clear from the sea of green and silver to the Slytherin section of the stands.

"Weasley cannot save a thing.

He cannot block a single ring.

That's why Slytherins all sing

Weasley is our King."

"-and Alicia passes back to Angelina!" Lee shouted, and as Harry swerved, his insides boiling at what he had just heard, he knew Lee was trying to drown out the words of the song "Come on now, Angelina—looks like she's got just the Keeper to beat!-SHE SHOOTS—SHE—aaaah..."

Bletchley, the Slytherin Keeper, had saved the goal, he threw the Quaffle to Warrington, who sped off with it, zig-zagging in between Alicia and Katie, the singing from below gets louder and louder as he drew nearer and nearer Ron.

"Weasley is our King

Weasley is our King.

He always lets the Quaffle in

Weasley is our King."

Harry could not help himself, abandoning his search for the Snitch, he wheeled around to watch Ron, a lone figure at the far end of the pitch, hovering before the three goalhoops while the massive Warrington pelted towards him.

"-and it's Warrington with the Quaffle, Warrington heading for goal, he's out of Bludger range with just the Keeper ahead-"

A great swell of the song rose from the Slytherin stands below.

"Weasley cannot save a thing

He cannot block a single ring"

"-so it's the first test for new Gryffindor Keeper Weasley, brother of Beathers Fred and George, and a promising new talent on the team—come on, Ron!"

But the scream of delight came from the Slytherins' end. Ron had dived wildly, his arms wide, and the Quaffle had soared between them straight through Ron's central hoop.

"Slytherin score!" came Lee's voice amid the cheering and booing from the crowds below, "so that's ten-nil to Slytherin—bad luck, Ron."

The Slytherins sang even louder.

"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN

HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN..."

"-and Gryffindor back in possession and it's Katie Bell tanking up the pitch-" cried Lee valiantly, though the singing was now so deafening that he could hardly make himself heard above it.

"WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN

WEASLEY IS OUR KING"

"Harry, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" screamed Angelina, soaring past him to keep up with Katie. "GET GOING!"

Harry realised he had been stationary in midair for over a minute, watching the progress of the match without sparing a thought for the whereabouts of the Snitch, horrified, he went into a dive and started circling the pitch again, staring around, trying to ignore the chorus now thundering through the stadium.

"WEASLEY IS OUR KING

WEASLEY IS OUR KING..."

There was no sign of the Snitch anywhere he looked, Malfoy was still circling the stadium just as he was. They passed one another midway around the pitch, going in opposite directions, and Harry heard Malfoy singing loudly.

"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN..."

"-and it's Warrington again, who passes to Pucey, Pucey's off past Spinnet, come on now, Angelina, you can take him – turns out you can't-but nice Bludger from Fred Weasley I mean. George Weasley, oh, who cares, one of them, anyway, and Warrington drops the Quaffle and Katie Bell—er- drops it, too- so that's Montague with the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Montague takes the Quaffle and he's off up the pitch come on now, Gryffindor, block him!"

Harry zoomed around the end of the stadium behind the Slytherin goalhoops, willing himself not to look at what was going on at Ron's end. As he sped past the Slytherin Keeper, he heard Bletchley singing along with the crowd below.

"WEASLEY CANNOT SAVE A THING..."

"-and Pucey's dodged Alicia again and he's heading straight for goal, stop it, Ron!"

Harry did not have to look to see what had happened, there was a terrible groan from the Gryffindor and, coupled with fresh screams and applause from the Slytherins. Looking down, Harry saw the pug-faced Pansy Parkinson right at the front of the stands, her back to the pitch as she conducted the Slytherin supporters who were roaring

"THAT'S WHY SLYTHERINS ALL SING

WEASLEY IS OUR KING"

Nevertheless, it was twenty-nil to Slytherin, there was still time for Gryffindor to catch up or catch the Snitch. A few goals and they would be in the lead as usual. Harry assured himself bobbing and weaving through the other players in pursuit of something shiny that turned out to be Montague's watchstrap.

Ron let in two more goals. There was an edge of panic in Harry's desire to find the Snitch now. If he could just get it soon and finish the game quickly.

"-and Katie Bell of Gryffindor dodges Pucey, ducks Montague, nice swerve, Katie, and she throws to Johnson. Angelina Johnson takes the Quaffle, she's past Warrington, she's heading for goal, come on now, Angelina—GRYFFINDOR SCORE! It's forty-ten, forty-ten to Slytherin and Pucey has the Quaffle..."

Harry could hear Luna's ludicrous lion hat roaring amidst the Gryffindor cheers and felt relieved. Slytherin was only thirty points ahead, that was nothing, they could pull back easily. Harry ducked a Bludger that Crabbe had sent rocketing in his direction and resumed his frantic scouring of the pitch for the Snitch, keeping one eye on Malfoy in case he showed signs of having spotted it, but Malfoy, like him, was continuing to soar around the stadium searching fruitlessly.

"Pucey throws to Warrington, Warrington to Montague. Montague back to Pucey- Johnson intervenes, Johnson takes the Quaffle, Johnson to Bell, this looks good—I mean bad—Bell's hit by a Bludger from Goyle of Slytherin and it's Pucey in possession again…

"

"WEASLEY WAS BORN IN A BIN

HE ALWAYS LETS THE QUAFFLE IN

WEASLEY WILL MAKE SURE WE WIN"

However, Harry had seen it, the tiny fluttering Golden Snitch was hovering feet from the ground at the Slytherin end of the pitch.

He dived.

In a matter of seconds, Malfoy was streaking out of the sky on Harry's left, a green and silver blur lying flat on his broom.

The Snitch skirted the foot of one of the goalhoops and scooted off towards the other of the stands, its change of direction suited Malfoy, who was nearer. Harry pulled his Firebolt around, he and Malfoy were now neck and neck.

Feet from the ground, Harry lifted his right hand from his broom, stretching towards the Snitch… to his right, Malfoy's arm extended too, was reaching, groping.

After two breathless, desperate, windswept seconds—Harry's fingers closed around the Snitch. Malfoy's fingernails scrabbled the back of Harry's hand hopelessly—Harry pulled his broom upwards, holding the struggling ball in his hand and the Gryffindor spectators screamed their approval.

WHAM

A Bludger hit Harry squarely in the small of the back and he flew forwards off his broom, Luckily he was only five or six feet above the ground, having dived so low to catch the Snitch, but he was winded all the same as he landed flat on his back on the frozen pitch. He heard Madam Hooch's shrill whistle, an uproar in the stands compounded of catcalls, angry yells and jeering, a thud, then Angelina's frantic voice.

"Are you all right?"

"I am," Harry said, taking her hand and allowing her to pull him to his feet. Madam Hooch was zooming towards one of the Slytherin players above him, though he could not see who it was from this angle.

"It was Crabbe, he whacked the Bludger at you the moment he saw you'd got the snitch—but we won, Harry, we won!"

Harry heard a snort from behind and turned around, still holding the Snitch lightly in his hand. Draco Malfoy landed close by. White-faced with fury, he was still managing to sneer.

"Saved Weasley's neck, haven't you?" he said to Harry. "I've never seen a worse Keeper...but then he was born in a bin...did you like my lyrics, Potter?"

Harry didn't answer. He turned away to meet the rest of the team who were now landing one by one, yelling and punching the air in triumph, all except Ron, who had dismounted from his broom over by the goalposts and seemed to be making his way slowly back to the changing rooms alone.

"We wanted to write another couple of verses!" Malfoy called, as Katie and Alicia hugged Harry. "But we couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly—we wanted to sing about his mother, see-"

"Talk about sour grapes," said Angelina, casting Malfoy a disgusted look.

"-we couldn't fit in useless loser either—for his father, you know-"

Fred and George had realised what Malfoy was talking about, Halfway through shaking Harry's hand, they stiffened, looking around at Malfoy.

"Leave it!" said Angelina at once, taking Fred by the arm. "Leave it, Fred, let him yell, he's just sore he lost, the jumped-up little-"

"-but you like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter?" said Malfoy, sneering. "Spend holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasleys hovel smells OK-"

"Now I want to get this straight, Draco, my relatives were kissed by the Dementors during the summer," Harry said.

"Really?" Draco asked, and Harry nodded.

Draco hesitated, then he started to laugh.

"Your relatives were all fools, Muggles, they can't even see Dementors," Draco said, and Crabbe and Goyle laughed. "No wonder they got kissed."

"My relatives are not fools, but who cares, they hated me anyway, and I hate them," Harry said.

Draco, Crabbe and Goyle laughed again.

"Maybe Potter hates Muggles," Draco said to Crabbe, and Crabbe and Goyle laughed again.

Harry ignored them.

o-o

"Harry, what do you think you were doing?" Hermione asked sternly as Harry arrived back in the common room.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Why did you tell Malfoy about your relatives being kissed?" Hermione asked.

"I think it is better to bring this up to him, to soften him up, instead of using force to cause him pain," Harry answered. "What I did was not against Hogwarts rules, was it?"

"I know, but I don't think you did the right thing either," Hermione answered. "You can do wrong things without getting punished in some cases."

"Just ignore them now," Harry said.

"I can, but that doesn't justify what you said," Hermione said.

A/N: What do you think of Harry's response to what Draco Malfoy said to him in this story?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**End of Term**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

A moment later, everyone else in the Gryffindor Quidditch team arrived back into the Gryffindor common room, except for Ron.

"What's up?" Harry asked.

"George had been punching Malfoy," Angelina said. "I tried to stop him, but he didn't listen."

"Why did you do that, George?" asked Harry.

"He was insulting my mother," George answered.

"I bet that Professor McGonagall wasn't impressed about this," Hermione said.

"Right," George said.

"We had to hold Fred back to prevent him from doing anything to Malfoy," Angelina went on. "We just couldn't hold George back."

"Ron is not here, though," Fred said. "Where do you think he is?"

"He might be too embarrassed to see us," Angelina answered. "He didn't guard the goalposts properly, after all."

"What are you going to do?" asked Harry. "Kick him out of the team or what?"

"Not kicking him out yet," Angelina answered. "I'll see if he can improve."

o-o

Ron was not at dinner either. By the time Harry and Hermione finished their dinner, they went back to the Gryffindor common room, and they saw through the window that snow was falling.

"Where is Ron?" asked Harry.

"Don't know how long he's going to avoid us," Hermione said. "He can't just avoid us forever."

"Don't know if we should go and look for him," Harry said.

Before they could make a decision to look for Ron, they saw him entering through the portrait hole, covered in snow.

"Where have you been?" Harry asked.

"Walking," Ron answered.

"Come and get yourself warmed up, Ron," Hermione said. "You look frozen."

Ron went over to the fire and sat down.

"I am going to resign first thing tomorrow from Quidditch," he said a moment later. "I am not a good keeper, I didn't even save a single thing."

"But we won," Hermione said.

"And Angelina said that she's not going to kick you out yet," Harry said. "Maybe you will improve over time."

They looked out of the window.

"Hagrid is back," Hermione said.

"Shall we go and see him?" asked Ron.

"No," Harry said. "Not tonight at least, we don't want to be caught out of bed after hours, especially me and Hermione. Besides, I don't think I need to see him in such a hurry, because I've got someone who could look after me."

Hermione beamed at Harry.

_Harry had finally grown up, following the school rules as a prefect, _she thought.

"We can go and see him tomorrow," she suggested, and Ron nodded.

o-o

After breakfast on the following day, Harry, Ron and Hermione set off for Hagrid's cabin.

As soon as they arrived at the cabin, Harry gently knocked on the door. A moment later, the door opened, and Hagrid appeared.

"Come in, you three," he said.

Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the cabin, then Harry noticed that Hagrid had cuts on his faces and arms.

Hagrid poured them some tea.

"What happened to you, Hagrid? How did you get injured?" asked Harry.

"It's nothing," Hagrid said. "How's your summer, Harry?"

"Never better," Harry answered. "I bid farewell with the Dursleys…"

"...and Gryffindor just won against Slytherin yesterday in the Quidditch match yesterday," Harry finished.

"We wanted to come to see you last night," Ron said.

"But we didn't want to get out of our beds at night," Harry said. "We didn't want to get caught."

Hagrid nodded.

"Taking the school rules seriously, weren't you?" he asked.

Harry and Hermione both nodded.

They talked for two hours, then they made their way back to the castle.

Harry and Hermione went to the library after lunch. Hermione had finished all her homework, Harry still had some homework to do but he was not too far behind her.

As he was finishing up with an essay for Professor Flitwick, Ron entered the library.

"What are you doing, Harry?" he asked.

"Finishing up with my homework," Harry answered. "Have you finished yours?"

"Not yet," Ron answered.

"Then why don't you come and do it?" asked Harry.

"I probably could," Ron said. "How much do you have left to do?"

"Two more essays," Harry answered. "One for Potions and one for Herbology."

"Maybe your Herbology homework can wait until Monday evening," Ron said.

"There will be more homework tomorrow, do you think I will have time to do that tomorrow evening?" asked Harry. "How much do you have left to do, anyway?"

"Three more essays," Ron answered.

"Then come and do it, Ron," Harry suggested.

"I'll just do Potions," Ron said.

"What about your other essays?" Hermione asked.

"Herbology and Charms, I'll do them tomorrow evening," Ron answered.

"You are just wasting your time, hanging around like this in your fifth year, leaving your homework until later," Hermione said.

Ron didn't speak. He pulled out some parchments and started to write his Potions essay.

Half an hour later, he stood up.

"I'm off," he said.

Hermione glanced at Ron's essay.

"Ron, you are not even halfway done," she said. "This essay is due tomorrow morning."

"Just round it up and finish it for me, will you?" asked Ron.

"Ron, what are you thinking, asking me to round up and finish the essay for you?" asked Hermione. "Can't you even think about doing it yourself? You have Quidditch practises later, why waste time now?"

"Fine," Ron said, taking his essay away and walking out of the library.

Harry looked at Ron's receding figure, knowing that he would most likely be getting bad grade again.

"Don't know what has got into him this year," he said. "His parents would not be impressed if they knew that he's still acting this way in school."

"Can't believe he's so lazy," Hermione said. "If he carries on like this, I would be surprised if he gets Exceeds Expectations in most of his OWLs this year."

A few hours later, Harry and Hermione made their way back to the Gryffindor common room.

o-o

Over the next few days, Ron didn't know what he should do.

Ginny was still shunning him, and he occasionally spotted her walking with Tracey and Blaise. Whenever Draco Malfoy approached them, he crept past them. As soon as Draco Malfoy met Harry walking with Hermione, he walked past them without a word.

After class ended on Wednesday, Harry, Ron and Hermione went into the Great Hall.

"Weasel King, I see that you are going to miss the Quaffle in your next match," a voice said.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked around, saw Draco Malfoy standing a few feet away from them, along with Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him.

"Take that back, Malfoy," Ron said.

Draco smirked.

"Maybe it would be better if you missed the Quaffle and let it in," he went on, moving closer to Ron, and Crabbe and Goyle laughed.

"And if you think we are going to lose the next match, you are mistaken, Draco," Harry said.

"Imagine if the Hufflepuff chasers scored more than one hundred and fifty points than Gryffindor before the seeker catches the snitch, we might have a chance to win this year," Draco said.

"Have you even fought against Hufflepuff yet?" asked Harry.

"Not yet," Draco answered. "But with a bad Keeper, how possible do you think it would be for Gryffindor to beat Hufflepuff?"

At these words, Ron knew that Draco was talking about him.

Outraged, he clenched his fist and held it in front of Draco.

"Ron, no!" Hermione screamed.

"He's not worth it, Ron," Harry said. "We don't want to lose points, lest if we lose the house cup this year."

Ron lowered his arm.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle moved away from them without another word.

"I'll show Hufflepuff what we've got," Ron said.

"Just keep practising and you will be all right," Harry suggested. "We have plenty of time."

After dinner, as soon as Harry, Ron and Hermione went back to the Gryffindor common room, Ron went to Angelina, who was with Alicia and Katie.

"I am resigning from Quidditch," he said.

"Why?" Angelina asked.

"Malfoy said that I am a bad keeper," said Ron, then he told Angelina what Malfoy said.

"You don't have to listen to him," Angelina said. "You are doing better now."

"We are not even going to verse Slytherin again this year," Alicia went on.

At last, Ron agreed to remain on the Quidditch team.

During the Potions class on the following day, Slughorn handed back everyone's essays, and Harry discovered that he got E again.

Ron was startled that he got a D.

He did not speak to Hermione throughout the class, and he walked away from Harry and Hermione after the lesson ended.

During the next day's Transfiguration class, Harry discovered a problem.

"My wand doesn't feel right anymore," he said to Hermione after class.

"You may need to go and see Dumbledore," Hermione advised him.

"I'll go and see him after my final lesson for the day," Harry said.

So after the last class finished for the day, Harry went into Dumbledore's office.

"How can I help you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"This wand doesn't feel right anymore," Harry answered.

"I think I know the answer, Harry, maybe you need to get a new wand as soon as possible," Dumbledore said. "Remember the scar you received after Voldemort failed to kill you?"

Harry nodded.

"Part of Voldemort's soul lived in you during that time; the wand must have recognised it, or else it wouldn't work as well as it was," Dumbledore said. "However, now your scar is gone; so this may be a sign that your wand is no longer working properly for you because that part of soul is gone."

"What should I do?" asked Harry.

"Keep using this wand until Christmas holiday," Dumbledore said. "You can get your new wand during that time."

o-o

"What's the matter with you, Ron?" Neville asked Ron as they went into the Gryffindor common room that evening. "You didn't look too good today."

"What grade did you get in your Potions essay?" Ron asked.

"Acceptable," Neville answered. "And yours?"

"Dreadful," Ron answered in a soft voice.

Neville couldn't believe that Ron was worse than him.

Then he walked away.

A moment later, Ginny arrived.

"You are such a failure, Ron," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if you repeat your fifth year."

"As long as I am good at Quidditch, I will be all right," Ron said. "I can find a job in that field. Other things don't matter."

Ginny stormed away.

As the weekend arrived, Harry and Hermione had already finished their homework, that they had the weekend free.

Even so, they went to the library to check out some more books, then they brought them back into the Gryffindor common room.

o-o

As November ended, Harry received a letter from Sirius, asking him if he could spend Christmas in Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and he replied to Sirius that he could spend Christmas with him. He had never been spending Christmas away from school for the past four years; this would be his first real Christmas away from school, plus, this would be an ideal opportunity for him to get his wand.

The news that Ravenclaw won against Hufflepuff, however, made him feel better. If Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff, they would be in second place, but if Gryffindor want to come first, he need to beat Ravenclaw too.

In the second week of December, Professor McGonagall collected the names of everyone who would be staying in school during Christmas.

"Are you going to spend your Christmas in school, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Not this time," Harry answered. "I will spend Christmas with Sirius."

"I am going to spend Christmas with my family, then," Hermione said.

When Harry asked Ron whether he would be spending Christmas in school or not, Ron stated that he wanted to spend this Christmas at home.

"Maybe you can come to the Burrow," he said to Harry.

"Thanks, but I'll spend this Christmas with Sirius," Harry said.

As Christmas approached, the fifth-years homework was on the increase, making Harry and Hermione's prefect duties more difficult. They were called to supervise the decoration of the castle, to watch over the first and second years spending their break times inside because of the cold, and to patrol the corridors with Filch in turn.

On the evening of the last day of the term, Harry was ready to go home on the following day.

After dinner, he went back to the Gryffindor common room and packed his trunk.

o-o

As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station on the following morning, Harry and Hermione patrolled the corridors for one hour after Ernie and Hannah finished their rounds.

"We are going to split up this Christmas," Harry said as he and Hermione took a seat.

"Never mind, we will be back again when the term starts," Hermione said. "Maybe you could write to me again."

As the Hogwarts Express stopped, the students got off the train, and they went to find their parents or guardians.

Harry found Sirius standing with Arthur and Molly, and the Grangers were a few feet away from them.

Sirius walked with Harry for a few miles, then he side-along Apparated him back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**A New Wand**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

As soon as Harry and Sirius entered Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, Harry told Sirius that he needs a new wand.

"I'll take you to the wand shop to get your new wand after Christmas," Sirius said.

Remus and Tonks arrived a few moments later, and they told Harry and Sirius that they would be staying during Christmas.

"How's your school going so far?" Sirius asked.

"Pretty good," Harry answered.

As soon as he told Sirius about everything that has happened during his term in Hogwarts, Sirius was shocked.

"Don't know what was going on with Ron," he said. "Are you no longer friend with him?"

"I am still his friend, but I spent more time with Hermione right now," Harry answered. "We are dating in secret."

"Ron's grade dropped?" asked Tonks.

"His grade is not too good," Harry said. "He asked Hermione to do his work for him, but Hermione did not want to do it."

"What?" Tonks asked.

"Don't know what he would be saying to his parents," Remus said.

After they finished discussing Ron, Sirius patted Harry.

"I am glad to hear that you won the first Quidditch match, and it is also good to see that you are progressing quite well academically," he said. "Keep it up."

He paused for a moment.

"Now, about Ginny not talking to Ron, just what happened during your second year, Harry?" he asked.

So Harry explained to Sirius about what happened during his second year at Hogwarts. After he finished, Sirius sighed.

"I agree that not all Slytherins are evil, but Ron had made things worse for the Slytherins," he said.

"I just don't understand this, Harry, you told Draco about your relatives after the first Quidditch match, just what motives do you have?" asked Remus. "Do you even think it is necessary?"

"To soften him up, avoiding a fight of course," Harry answered. "I don't care if they hate me more, I am not with them anymore," Harry said.

As the evening arrived, Harry, Remus, Tonks and Sirius were busy putting up Christmas decorations.

o-o

On Christmas Day, Harry got up and dressed, then he went down to the hall for breakfast.

After breakfast, Harry went to the Christmas tree, then he saw several packages.

He got a set of books about Defensive spells from Sirius and Remus, and he got a homework planner from Hermione, as well as a new watch from her parents.

He took off his old watch and put on the new one, then he adjusted the time.

He was immersed in the excitement of Christmas when he turned and saw Dumbledore entering.

"Is everyone all right?" he asked.

"Yes," Sirius answered.

"Harry, I need you to come with me for a second," he said. "We need to speak alone for a bit."

He led Harry into a room, then they sat down.

"Now it is time for me to reveal something to you," he said.

"What is it that you want to tell me?" asked Harry.

"You remember asking me why Voldemort want to kill you when you were a baby?" asked Dumbledore.

Harry nodded.

"A prophecy was made shortly before your birth, it states that you can defy Voldemort," Dumbledore said.

He took out a pensieve, then he placed his wand to his temple, withdrew a silvery strand of thought clinging to the wand and deposited them into a basin.

A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to enormous size behind her glasses, and she revolved slowly, her feet in the basin. Harry recognised her as Sybill Trelawney.

When she spoke, it was not in her usual voice, but in a harsh, hoarse tone that Harry had heard her use once before.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches...born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies...and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not...and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives...the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies..."_

Then she sank back into the silver mass below and vanished.

"What does this mean?" asked Harry.

"It meant that the person who has the only chance of conquering Lord Voldemort for good was born at the end of July, nearly twenty years ago. This boy would be born to parents who had already defied Voldemort three times."

"It means – me?" asked Harry.

"The odd thing, Harry, is that it may not have meant you at all. Sybill's prophecy could have applied to two wizard boys, both born at the end of July that year, both of whom had parents in the Order of the Phoenix, both sets of parents having narrowly escaped Voldemort three times. One, of course, was you. The other was Neville Longbottom."

"Then it might not be me," Harry said.

"I am afraid, that there is no doubt that it is you," Dumbledore said.

"But you said that Neville was born at the end of July, too – and his mum and dad -"

"You are forgetting the next part of the prophecy, the final identifying feature of the boy who could vanquish Voldemort...Voldemort himself would mark him as his equal. And so he did, Harry. He chose you, not Neville. He gave you the scar that has proved both blessing and curse."

"But he might have chosen wrong!" said Harry.

"He chose the boy he thought most likely to be a danger to him. Notice this, Harry, not the pure-blood (which, according to his creed, is the only kind of wizard worth being or knowing) but the half-blood, like himself. He saw himself in you before he had ever seen you, and in marking you with that scar, he did not kill you as he intended; but gave you powers, and the future, which have fitted you to escape him not once, but multiple times so far, something that few other wizards have ever achieved."

"Why didn't he wait to see whether Neville or I looked more dangerous when we were older and tried to kill whoever it was then -"

"Now that, indeed, might have been the more practical course," Dumbledore said, "except that Voldemort's information about the prophecy was incomplete. The Hog's Head Inn, which Sybill chose for its cheapness, has long attracted, shall we say more interesting clientele than the Three Broomsticks. It is a place where it is safe to assume you are not being overheard. Of course, I had not dreamed, I set out to meet Sybill Trelawney, that I would hear anything worth overhearing. My - our – one stroke of good fortune was that the eavesdropper was detected a short way into the prophecy and thrown from the building."

"So he only heard –?"

"He heard only the beginning, the part foretelling the birth of a boy in July to parents who had thrice defied Voldemort. Consequently, he could not warn his master that to attack you would be risk transferring power to you, and mark you as his equal. So Voldemort never knew that there might be danger in attacking you, that it might be wise to wait, to learn more. He did not know that you would have the power the Dark Lord knows not."

"But I don't have any power he hasn't got-"

"There is a room in the Department of Mysteries that is kept locked at all times," Dumbledore interrupted. "It contains a force that is at once more wonderful and terrible than death, than human intelligence, than the forces of nature. It is also, perhaps, the most mysterious of the many subjects for study that reside there. The power held within that room which Voldemort has not at all."

"The end of the prophecy...It was something about…neither can live..."

"...while the other survives," said Dumbledore.

"So," said Harry, "according to you, does this mean that...that one of us has to kill the other one...in the end?"

"Yes," Dumbledore answered.

There was a short pause.

"But now things are going differently," Dumbledore went on. "The part of Voldemort's soul resides in you had been removed, causing your scar to fade."

"Which means that the prophecy is not fully true now," Harry said, and Dumbledore nodded.

"I am not going to bother you too much though, Harry," he went on. "I will involve you very scarcely unless if you have to do something, like the final battle with Voldemort. I daresay you had enough in your mind right now."

Harry nodded.

"Do not share this information with too many people, though," Dumbledore said.

"You told me that Voldemort couldn't be killed," Harry said.

"Voldemort could be killed if all his Horcruxes are destroyed," Dumbledore said. "A Horcrux is part of someone's soul, split into one or more pieces. This is the way that Voldemort achieves immortality."

"One of them is already gone," Harry said.

"You destroyed another one in your second year, remember the Diary?" asked Dumbledore, and Harry nodded again.

He remembered what Tom Riddle told him while he was inside the Chamber of Secrets.

_I grew powerful, powerful than little Miss Weasley. Powerful enough to start feeding Miss Weasley a few of my secrets, to start pouring a little of my soul back to her..._

"No wonder Ginny was possessed and almost had her life taken," he said. "That Diary must have been a Horcrux."

Dumbledore nodded.

"How many Horcruxes did he make?" asked Harry.

"Seven," Dumbledore answered.

"Do you know what they are, and where to find them?" asked Harry.

"I know most of them; but I have to search for them," Dumbledore answered. "I can only guess where they are."

o-o

The Christmas dinner was very ample, there were turkeys, Christmas cakes, plus some other miscellaneous dishes.

After everyone had eaten, they felt too full to do anything else.

Harry decided not to share the prophecy with anyone yet.

The day after Boxing Day, Sirius told Harry that he will take him to buy his new wand soon.

They set off at ten o'clock.

"I'll side-along Apparate you this time, Harry," Sirius said. "It will be faster this way."

He held Harry by his waist.

A moment later, Harry felt as if he was being squeezed into a tube, another moment passed, he saw himself at the entrance of Diagon Alley.

Sirius tapped the bricks, causing it to move aside, forming the entrance, and they entered.

As soon as they arrived at the Ollivanders, they found that the door was locked.

"This shop is not open today, maybe it will open later," Sirius said. "There may be other wand shops, let's give them a try, shall we?"

Harry nodded.

They searched from one shop to another, and they found Jimmy Kiddell's Wonderful Wands shop.

"This is open, I believe," Sirius said.

He pushed the door open, then they entered.

A man in his forties was standing inside the shop, putting more boxes inside the shelf. A moment later, he looked up.

"Hi, my name is Jimmy Kiddell, how can I help you today?" he asked.

"Hi Jimmy, my name is Harry Potter, I am here to get a new wand," Harry said.

"Really? Do you have any reason for doing this?" asked Jimmy. "Was your old wand broken?"

"My wand no longer works as well as before," Harry said. taking out his wand. "I purchased this wand at the Ollivanders when I was eleven."

Jimmy took it and examined it.

"Holly and Phoenix Feather, eleven inches, nice and supple," he said, handing it back to Harry. "Give your current wand a try, and I will determine if you need another one. I am certain that you know that the wand chooses the Wizard."

Harry nodded, and he waved the wand.

This time, however, sparks did not fly out as it did when he tried it out at the Ollivanders.

"That wand no longer chose you," Jimmy said. "I'll measure you first, then I can choose your wand."

He pulled out a long tape measure, and it began to measure Harry instantly.

As soon as the measurement was done, Jimmy opened a box and took out the wand.

"Try this one, Mr Potter, Juniper and Dragon Heartstring, ten inches, reasonably swishy," he said.

Harry took it and gave it a wave, but again, no sparks shot out from it.

"Try this one, Mr Potter, Lindens and Unicorn Hair, ten and a half inches, Brittle," Jimmy said.

Harry took it and gave it a wave, but again, no sparks shot out of it.

"Try this one," Jimmy said. "Whitebeam and Dragon Heartstring, nine and a half inches, springy."

Harry took it and waved it, but again, no sparks shot out of it.

"Let's see," Jimmy said, he waved his wand in front of Harry, then he directed it at the boxes.

Suddenly, the boxes began to shift around, then a box fled towards Harry, landing right on his lap.

Jimmy opened the box and took the wand out.

"Rowan and Unicorn Hair, ten and a half inches, flexible," he said, handing the wand to Harry.

Harry took it, then he felt a warmth in his fingers, sparks shot out of it.

"This wand is the right one for you," Jimmy said.

"I didn't see Mr Ollivander pointing his wand at me and direct it at the boxes when I acquired my wand from him," Harry said.

"I created this spell, and I just used it on you. This way, I don't have to waste time with customers," Jimmy said. "Most wandmakers prefer to continue to let their customer try out the wands."

"How much?" asked Harry.

"Eight galleons," Jimmy answered.

Harry counted out eight galleons and handed them to Jimmy.

"Thanks," Jimmy said, then he bid Harry and Sirius goodbye.

Upon arriving back at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, Harry was happy that he had found a wand that suits him well, and he knew that his new wand won't be locking up with Voldemort's wand when he duels him.

On the following day, Dumbledore arrived at Grimmauld Place again, and he called Harry into a room.

"I have been trying to find out where the Horcruxes are," he said. "I found one Horcrux, but it seemed to be fake."

He pulled out a locket.

"The locket is a Horcrux, but this one isn't real," Dumbledore said. "Someone has stolen it."

Then he took out a note and began to read.

_To the Dark Lord_

_I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know it was I who had discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more._

_R. A. B_

"Where did you find it?" asked Harry.

"I found it near a lake, it was lying inside a basin containing the potion of despair," Dumbledore answered. "I am not sure who R. A. B is, though."

"Maybe we should tell Sirius about it," Harry said.

Dumbledore nodded.

Together, they went and found Sirius, who was sitting in his room.

Dumbledore told Sirius about Voldemort's secret, as well as what he found. As soon as he finished, Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Regulus Arcturus Black," he said. "The locket could be here somewhere."

"Let's find it, shall we?" Dumbledore asked, and Sirius nodded.

They split up and searched for a while.

"Dumbledore, here you go," Sirius said, stretching out his hand, holding a locket. "This locket might be the one you are looking for."

Dumbledore took it and examined it.

It was as large as a chicken egg, an S inlaid with many green stones glinted inside the room.

"This is the real one. I'll take this back to school," he said. "Once I open it, I will be able to destroy it."

Then he walked out of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place.

A/N: Next chapter will contain the Daily Prophet saying what Harry said to Draco Malfoy after his first Quidditch match. How do you think everyone in the Wizarding world will react to this? Will some of the Muggleborns in Hogwarts start to hate Harry once they receive the Daily Prophet saying that Harry hates Muggles because they thought Harry hated their parents?


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

Saturday 6th January 1996

Two days before the school term started, Sirius Apparated Harry to the Kings Cross. Together, they went through Platform Nine and Three Quarters, meeting Hermione.

As soon as they got onto the train, they found a compartment for themselves. A moment later, Ron, Fred and George arrived.

"How's your Christmas?" asked Harry.

"Not too good," Ron answered. "Mum and Dad weren't too impressed with my grades, and they made me do chores."

"I got a new wand," Harry said, then he pulled it out. "Rowan and Unicorn Hair, ten and a half inches, flexible."

"So the wand you acquired when you were eleven doesn't work for you anymore," Ron said.

Harry nodded.

"I bought this at Jimmy Kiddell's Wonderful Wands," he added. "Ollivanders shop was closed when I went there to buy my new wand."

Ron and Hermione both gasped.

"Never expected that mate," Ron said. "You got a new watch too."

"Yes, I got it as a gift for Christmas from Hermione's parents," Harry said.

"I told them that you need one," Hermione said.

"Thanks," Harry said.

There was a pause.

"How's Ginny?" Harry asked Fred.

"She reconciled with Ron now," Fred answered. "Mum managed to talk her out of her griefs."

As the train moved, Harry and Hermione went to the Prefect compartment again.

Raymond and Abby were sitting in the compartment as usual. A moment later, Blaise and Tracey entered, then Padma and Anthony, as well as Ernie and Hannah, entered the compartment together.

After a brief meeting, Harry and Hermione went to patrol the corridors for one hour before they were informed by Blaise and Tracey that they can go back to their compartment.

o-o

As soon as Harry and Hermione arrived back in the Gryffindor common room, they began to study again.

On Monday evening, a copy of Daily Prophet arrived.

Harry took it and began to read.

**Harry Potter Hates Muggles**

Harry was not too happy about the heading, then he read on.

_Draco Malfoy, a fifth-year Hogwarts student, had interviewed the reporter of what Harry Potter told him during November after the first Quidditch match, that he hates his Aunt and Uncle._

"_Harry Potter hates Muggles," Draco Malfoy said. "He told me that he didn't care that his Muggle relatives get kissed by the Dementors during the summer holidays."_

Harry sighed, he didn't know what he should do.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Hermione asked.

Harry gave her the Daily Prophet.

After Hermione read it, she sighed as well.

"Muggles don't usually read the Daily Prophet, I bet; so I should still be all right," Harry said.

After dinner, they went back into the Gryffindor common room.

Colin and Dennis Creevey both ignored Harry as they crept past him, and Harry wondered why.

"Told you that you are going to face consequences," Hermione said. "If you didn't mention your relatives getting kissed by the Dementors in front of Malfoy, this news won't be printed on the Daily Prophet."

"I just have to ignore it, then," Harry said.

"The Muggleborns are going to be afraid of you because they think you are going to hate their parents, excluding me," Hermione said.

Harry said nothing else. He sat down, then he began to do his homework.

After he finished his homework, he looked at the prefect's patrol schedule.

"We will be patrolling the corridor again on Wednesday night, at nine," he said to Hermione.

"We should be all right," Hermione said.

During Transfiguration on the following day, Harry found that his new wand cooperated with him well when he cast the Vanishing Spell, and he was impressed.

As the following evening arrived, another news appeared in the Daily Prophet.

**Death Eaters arrested**

_Walden Macnair __was__ arrested yesterday by the Aurors._

_Under Veritaserum, __he__ confessed that they were followers of Voldemort, and they were sent to prison._

"I am pretty sure that Voldemort will not be impressed," Harry said.

o-o

Dumbledore was standing by the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, holding the Sword of Gryffindor in his right hand, the locket was situated on the ground.

He requested Slytherin to open the locket.

"Why should I open it?" asked Salazar Slytherin.

"This is a part of Voldemort's soul," Dumbledore said. "He used this way to keep himself from dying."

"WHAT!" Slytherin shouted; he couldn't believe such a thing.

"If you hated him doing it, do me a favour, assist me in destroying this," Dumbledore said.

"How do I open it?" asked Slytherin.

"Ask it to open using parseltongue," Dumbledore said.

"Right, if you are ready, I will do it," Slytherin said.

Dumbledore nodded.

"Open," Slytherin said in parseltongue.

The locket opened, then Voldemort emerged.

Dumbledore raised the sword, plunged it into the locket, and Voldemort screamed.

A moment later, he was gone.

"Thank you, Salazar Slytherin," Dumbledore said.

"You're welcome," Salazar Slytherin said.

o-o

At nine o'clock that evening, Harry and Hermione went to patrol the corridor, meeting Ernie and Hannah.

As they were patrolling the corridors, they heard Ernie speaking.

"What are you guys doing?"

They followed them, then they saw three second-year students.

"You are not supposed to wander around at night," Hannah said.

"Are you heading back to your common room?" asked Ernie.

The second-year students shook their heads.

"We just came out of our common room," one of them said.

"And why did you guys do that?" asked Ernie.

"No one gives you the right to wander around at night," Harry said as he approached them. "If you need to do something, you should do it during day time."

"All of them are in Hufflepuff," Ernie said.

"Ten points will be taken from each of you," Harry said, and he looked at Ernie, who nodded.

"Yeah, get back to bed, all of you," Hannah said.

The second-year students turned and walked away.

After Harry and Hermione went back to the common room, they bid each other goodnight and went to their dormitories.

o-o

Ron's grade did not improve over the next fortnight, he focused too much on Quidditch, worrying a lot of whether he would be able to win against Hufflepuff. His Potions grade was mostly Poor.

Harry, on the contrary, had received an Outstanding grade in his Potions homework.

Harry occasionally asked Ron to join him and Hermione for study, but Ron played chess with Seamus mostly.

Hermione asked Ron if she could test him on History of Magic, but Ron refused to let her do it.

"This is so boring," he said.

"And you don't even want to do something like this to improve yourself on this subject?" Hermione asked Ron.

Ron shook his head.

"Ron, if you don't care about failing History of Magic, fine," Harry said.

"As long as we win in Quidditch, I will be fine," Ron said.

"If you want to repeat your fifth year, maybe," Hermione said.

o-o

There was another Hogsmeade trip on the eleventh of February, a few days before Valentines Day. Harry was looking forward to it, going on another date with Hermione again.

Cho cornered Harry one day, telling him about the next Hogsmeade trip.

"I am going with Hermione," Harry said.

"Fine," Cho said, and she walked away.

Meanwhile, Ron's skills at saving the goals had improved, though he's still not as good as Oliver Wood yet.

On the eleventh of February, Harry went to Hogsmeade with Hermione, while Ron went with his brothers.

They went to the Three Broomsticks, and Hermione bought two Butterbeers, handing one to Harry.

As they drank, they saw Cho, Fred, George, and Ron entering there as well.

"Where is Ginny?" Ron asked.

"She's with Michael Corner," Fred said. "If you can find Michael, you can find her."

"Did you see where Michael is?" asked Ron.

"I think Michael went into Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop," Cho answered. "I'll lead you there to see if I can find him."

Ron nodded.

Together, they set off.

They did not return until ten minutes later.

"Dunno what the hell she was doing with Michael," Ron whispered. "I thought she fancied Harry."

"Ron," Fred said. "I think Harry's dating someone already."

"Who?" asked Ron.

"The girl next to him," George said.

"What the -" Ron began.

"Don't give them a hard time, Ron," Fred said.

Ron fell silent.

"I never thought they were dating," he blurted out.

"They can make life difficult for you if you do anything negative to them," George said.

"He stole her from me," Ron said.

"No he didn't," Fred said.

o-o

After dinner, Ron was in a very bad mood. He was angry with Harry and Hermione spending time together without him.

_Harry studied too much, _he thought. _He singled me out like this._

Just then, Harry and Hermione entered the common room.

As Ron spotted them, he turned away.

o-o

At the end of February, Slytherin played against Ravenclaw, and Slytherin won the match.

Gryffindor would be playing against Hufflepuff on the second Saturday of March, and Angelina knew that things would get better.

"We already beat Slytherin," she said to her team. "We should have no problem with the next match."

"What if the Hufflepuff team gained more points back when they verse Slytherin?" Alicia asked.

"You got a point, Alicia," Angelina said.

At this point, Ron sighed again, wondering if he would be able to save the goals this time.

"You don't have to be too nervous this time, Ron," Angelina said. "You should be all right."

On the day of the Quidditch match, Ron was still nervous.

"You don't have to be nervous, Ron," Harry said.

As everyone finished their breakfast, Harry collected his Firebolt, then he went with the rest of the Quidditch team to the changing room.

"Summerby is the seeker in the Hufflepuff team," Angelina informed Harry as he finished changing.

After everyone got changed, they took their brooms and headed down to the Quidditch pitch.

As soon as they arrived, they could see the Hufflepuff team standing on the side of the pitch, holding their brooms. Madam Hooch was there as usual.

"Captains, shake hands," she said, and Angelina shook hands with Zacharias Smith.

"Mount your brooms," she said, one, two, three…

After the two teams mounted the brooms into the air, Madam Hooch released the four balls.

Lee Jordan was commentating as usual.

"The Quaffle is taken immediately by Katie, Gryffindor in possession," he said.

Harry was looking for the Snitch, but he didn't think of catching it yet. He thought it would be better to catch it later.

"- and she shoots the Quaffle towards the goal, but the Hufflepuff Keeper, Herbert, saved it, then he passed it to a chaser in his team, Tamsin, Hufflepuff in possession."

Harry roamed around the stadium, looking for the Snitch, then he spotted Summerby a few feet in front of him.

"- Tasmin heading toward the goal, oh, and he got hit by a Bludger, drops the Quaffle, and it was taken by Angelina."

Angelina sped towards the goal, dodged a Bludger just in time, but the Hufflepuff chaser, Cadwallader, was a few miles behind her, attempting to intercept her.

Nevertheless, by the time he caught up with her, she had already thrown the Quaffle towards the hoop, and it went through.

"Gryffindor score, Ten-nil!" Lee shouted.

The Gryffindors cheered.

Harry zoomed around the pitch, looking for the Snitch. At the same time, a Bludger came towards him.

He sped onto his left, narrowly avoiding it.

"Hufflepuff in possession, Cadwallader takes the Quaffle and shoot it in the goal, Ron, save it."

But Ron missed it, causing it to get into the hoop. As a result, Gryffindor was ten-ten.

The Hufflepuffs began to cheer.

Alicia seized the Quaffle, dodged a Bludger, then she headed towards the goalposts.

The Hufflepuff chaser, Zacharias Smith, tried to prevent her from getting the goal, except that he wasn't fast enough. As soon as he was near her, she had already thrown the Quaffle towards the hoop.

Herbert tried to save the goal, but he missed. The Quaffle entered flawlessly into the hoop.

"Gryffindor score, Twenty-ten!" Lee shouted.

Then the Quaffle was taken by Zacharias Smith, causing Hufflepuff to be in possession.

Harry was still looking for the Snitch, but as he saw Zacharias threw the Quaffle at the goalpost, he wondered if Ron could catch it.

Just as he expected, Ron saved this goal, and he passed the Quaffle to Katie.

"Ron saves the goal, Gryffindor in possession," Lee said. "Katie has the Quaffle, but there was a Bludger coming for her, yet it was hit back by one of the Weasley twins, nice hit."

Katie was speeding towards the hoop with the Quaffle, when Cadwallader caught up with her, attempting to intercept her, but then she passed the Quaffle to Alicia, who threw it towards the goal, Herbert tried to save the goal, but he didn't do it on time, causing it to get through.

"Gryffindor score again, thirty-ten!" Lee cheered.

The Gryffindors who were watching the match cheered.

Then the Hufflepuff chaser, Tamsin, seized the Quaffle and sped towards the goal.

Nevertheless, Katie arrived just in time, intercepted Tamsin and taking the Quaffle from him, then she sped towards the goal, only to be hit by a Bludger, causing her to drop the Quaffle, and Tamsin took the Quaffle again and threw it towards the goalpost.

Ron didn't manage to save the goal, only that he didn't need to, as the Quaffle didn't get into the hoop, but missed.

A moment later, Angelina took her chance, seizing the Quaffle, scoring another goal.

"Forty-ten to Gryffindor!" Lee roared.

Then the Quaffle was taken by Katie again, attempting to score another goal, but this time, Herbert saved the goal and passed the Quaffle to Zacharias.

"Hufflepuff in possession," Lee said. "Zacharias shoots the Quaffle to the goal, Ron, save it."

But Ron missed the Quaffle, causing Zacharias to score again.

"Forty-twenty to Gryffindor!" Lee shouted.

The Hufflepuffs began to cheer.

Then Angelina seized the Quaffle again, passing it to Alicia, who scored another goal, resulting fifty-twenty.

Then Katie scored sixty-twenty.

Harry dodged another Bludger and searched for the Snitch again.

He saw Summerby a few feet ahead of him, the Snitch was still nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, he spotted it, and then he dived and caught the Snitch, then Madam Hooch's whistle sounded.

As Harry landed on the ground, he took his feet off from his Firebolt, panting.

A moment later, his team landed near him, hugging him.

"Nice catch Harry," Angelina said. "We won again."

"Thanks," Harry said.

Gryffindor had won, two hundred and ten to twenty.

o-o

Another week passed, Harry and Hermione began to study again, as their OWLs were drawing nearer and nearer.

Ron, meanwhile, was still slacking, he didn't get a single passing grade in any of his homework. He was sick of the fact that Harry and Hermione were dating, and he was not too happy when Hermione nagged him to study.

"We only have roughly ten weeks until the exam starts," Hermione said to Ron. "If you think that Quidditch is the only thing that you would do, you can fail and repeat until you are seventeen."

"And I don't even think Oliver Wood disregard everything just to get into Quidditch career," Harry said. "I am sure that he had passed his OWLs and his NEWTs."

Ron was quite annoyed.

"We have career counselling coming up," Harry said.

"I'll just tell McGonagall that I want to be a Quidditch player when she asks me," Ron said.

"Are you going to join us or not?" Harry asked.

"No," Ron answered.

Harry said nothing else, he continued to study with Hermione, leaving Ron alone.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Career's Advice**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, was thinking about looking for another Horcrux. He wondered where else he should look.

He knew that there are still some Horcruxes out there that needs to be destroyed. The cup, he didn't know where it was, the snake, he decided to leave it until last since he didn't want Voldemort to become aware of him hunting the Horcruxes.

And there's another Horcrux he had no idea about, that once belonged to Gryffindor or Ravenclaw.

He decided to ask Professor Flitwick for some details, but he didn't want to expose too many secrets about Voldemort to him.

He summoned Professor Flitwick to his office.

"Albus, what do you want from me?" Flitwick asked.

"Filius, would you mind joining me on this project that I am doing?" asked Dumbledore.

"No," Filius said. "What project is this?"

"This is a project of defeating Voldemort," Dumbledore answered.

"And why do you need my assistance for this?" asked Filius.

"Voldemort had created rituals called Horcruxes, to prevent himself from dying," Dumbledore said. "I want to know if Voldemort used anything that once belonged to Ravenclaw."

"Did he use anything from the other houses?" asked Filius.

"Yes, he used Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup," Dumbledore answered.

"There's the Diadem of Ravenclaw which was lost centuries ago," Filius said, after considering for a moment.

"Thanks for the information," Dumbledore said. "You are dismissed now."

Filius Flitwick walked out of Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore made his way to the seventh floor, walked by the wall three times, having the thought of a place where everything was hidden.

A moment later, he was in a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its towering walls built of objects.

He searched through it, and then he found a tarnished tiara.

_That's it, _he thought quietly. _I'll destroy this one._

He took the Diadem back to his office, placing it on the table, then he took the Sword of Gryffindor, and stabbed it.

There was a piercing scream, a moment later, it fell silent.

_Another Horcrux gone, _he thought.

o-o

On the following week, Harry and Hermione studied hard as usual.

Harry finally took his mind off Quidditch, thinking there may not be any need for another match; since they had already won.

"It is our turn again to patrol the corridors," Hermione said. "Wednesday evening."

"Yeah, right," Harry nodded.

Ron, meanwhile, was still not keen to join them, nor did he study on his own. Harry frequently saw him playing chess with Seamus.

As Ginny heard that Harry and Hermione were dating, she wasn't too surprised about it, and she didn't object them.

o-o

On Wednesday evening, Harry and Hermione were doing their homework, when Ron and Ginny approached them, asking if they saw Fred and George.

Both Harry and Hermione shook their heads.

They finished their homework at half-past eight, then they put it back into their bags.

As nine o'clock arrived, they went out of the portrait hole, patrolling the corridors.

This time, they didn't see anyone wandering around at night until they went through a corridor,

Two headless figures appeared.

"What is this?" asked Harry.

Hermione let out a gasp.

The two headless figures moved closer to Harry and Hermione, holding out their hands.

Hermione screamed, then she shuddered and walked backwards.

Harry could tell that she felt tense, they retreated a bit, trying to avoid the figures.

"What's going on?"

A moment later, Filch arrived, and he gasped when he saw the headless figures.

"Who are these two figures?" he asked as Hermione tried to regain her composure.

"Dunno," Harry answered. "Show yourselves."

A moment later, the heads appeared.

It was Fred and George, and they began to laugh.

"Headless Hats," Fred said. "Want to try it on, Harry?"

"What do you think you two were doing?" Harry asked. "Wondering around after dark and scare the crap out of us?"

"This is not funny!" Hermione blurted out.

"Yeah!" Filch said. "I'll take these two to Professor McGonagall's office, you two carry on with your duties."

After Filch left with Fred and George, Harry and Hermione continued their duties.

As soon as they went back into the Gryffindor common room, they bid each other good night; and went to their dormitories.

As Harry went onto the bed, Ron woke up.

"Harry, are you all right?" he asked.

"I am okay," Harry said. "It was just that Fred and George scared the crap out of us with Headless Hats in the castle."

"Fred and George?" Ron asked. "No wonder they were not here this evening. What happened to them now?"

"Filch took them to Professor McGonagall's office," Harry answered. "I expect them to be back soon."

Then he lied down and closed his eyes.

/Scene Break/

"Why are you so afraid of Headless Hats?" Fred asked Harry during the following evening.

"We never expected you to be out of bed this late and wearing those hats to scare us," Harry answered. "We only heard of Headless Hats yesterday evening. That was so scary, by the way, when we saw headless figures wandering around at night."

"You were too busy," Fred said. "We could have scared anyone, though, not just you."

"Do you think it is funny to scare anyone using your products?" asked Harry.

"Yeah," Fred said. "Do you?"

"Not for me," Harry answered. "Just where were you both last evening?"

"Lurking outside after dinner, of course," Fred said.

Harry wondered how Fred and George not get spotted by Filch wearing those hats. He also wondered if any other students saw them wearing it.

Nevertheless, he felt that asking Fred and George about this would not be a wise idea.

o-o

As the Easter holidays started, there was a notice on the noticeboard.

_All fifth-year students are to make an appointment with their Head of House to discuss their career options._

_Times for individual appointments are listed below._

Harry searched for his name, then he found that he was to be at Professor McGonagall's office at half-past two on Monday afternoon.

The fifth years received booklets about their future career options.

Harry looked at all the career options; healing, Auror, etc., he felt that the only thing he needs to do was to pass his NEWTs with top grades before anything else.

The current state of his academic grades was good enough, though it could be better.

o-o

Harry and Hermione had already drawn up revision timetables for themselves, and they studied harder than ever, knowing that this year was important.

Ron spotted working, except that he kept on looking out at the window.

"What is distracting you from studying?" Harry asked.

"I don't feel like studying," Ron said.

o-o

Monday 15th April 1996

As soon as the Easter holidays passed, Harry knew that he would have to miss part of Divination for his career counsel with Professor McGonagall.

He set off for Professor McGonagall's office at two twenty-five, and he arrived at the office just in time.

He knocked on the door.

"Enter," Professor McGonagall said.

Harry opened the door and entered.

"Right Potter, you are here for the career counselling," Professor McGonagall said. "Take a seat, then we will discuss it."

Harry took his seat, facing Professor McGonagall.

"Have you thought about what you want to do after you leave Hogwarts?" she asked.

"I had the thought of being an Auror," Harry answered.

"If you want to be an Auror, you will need to have five NEWTs, with at least Exceeds Expectations," Professor McGonagall said. "Then you would be required to undergo a series of character and aptitude tests at the Auror office. It's a difficult career path, Potter, they only take the best. In fact, I don't think anyone has been taken on in the last three years."

"You will need to take Defense Against the Dark Arts, of course, and you will need to take Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Herbology," Professor McGonagall went on. "Meanwhile, I don't see any problems with your grade in any of these subjects. You get mostly Exceeds Expectations in my class, and you get Exceeds Expectations, sometimes Outstanding, in some of the other subjects I mentioned just now."

"Assuming if you did get enough NEWTs with the required grades, you will need to demonstrate the ability to react well to pressure and so forth, perseverance and dedication, because Auror training takes a further three years, not to mention very high skills in practical Defense, it will mean a lot more study even after you leave school. So unless if you are prepared to take more exams after school, you should look at other options. Some career options have the same, or similar academic requirements for an Auror, but not all of them require you to take more exams after you leave school."

"This concludes our career discussion," Professor McGonagall said.

o-o

During their Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, Professor Webb began to do revision on all the spells they had learnt.

At the end of the class, Harry told Ron and Hermione about his interview with Professor McGonagall.

"You could look elsewhere," Hermione said. "Auror isn't the only thing that you should consider."

"You know, Harry, when I was having my career counsel with Professor McGonagall, she laughed when I told her I want to be a Quidditch player," Ron said. "She advised me to not forget about academics, though."

"And what do you think of that?" Harry asked.

"Don't know if I need to pass anything," Ron answered.

"You should get on with your studying, Ron," Hermione said.

Ron nodded.

However, after he studied for only an hour, he walked off.

Then he spotted Alicia and Angelina poring over their books.

He crept past them, meeting Fred and George.

They went into a corner and began to whisper to each other.

Harry wasn't too bothered about what Ron, Fred and George were talking about as he was too focused on his homework. Soon enough, they were out of his sight.

o-o

As the classes ended on Friday, Draco Malfoy was worried.

Slughorn was not too impressed with his potion brewing, saying that he had brewed his potion wrong, that he would, at best, gain an Acceptable grade.

He was not used to being criticised for his schoolwork, and he was being retorted when he tried to make excuses for his bad result.

He wished that Snape was still here, except that he couldn't help it now. He didn't want to fail, as it would disappoint his mother.

Professor Sinistra wasn't pleased with his progress, and she made the suggestion that he study something, unless if he wants to repeat.

His overall progress in most of his courses was far from satisfactory.

Blaise and Tracey had asked him to study a bit harder so that he could get to his NEWTs, but he was not in the mood of taking their advice seriously.

"If you don't want to fail, you better study harder," Blaise said to Draco.

Draco didn't know what to say, as he had no idea if he should join Voldemort or the light side. If he attempts to join the light side, will the people in the light side believe him? If he chose to become a Death Eater, will Voldemort let him join?

He didn't want to tell either Blaise or Tracey about this, as he felt that they wouldn't be taking this kindly.

o-o

After dinner, Harry and Hermione went back into the Gryffindor common room, and Lavender approached them.

"Have either of you seen Parvati anywhere?" she asked.

Harry and Hermione both shook their heads, then they exchanged looks.

"Didn't you realise that she's not at dinner?" Lavender asked.

"We didn't pay much attention to this," Harry said.

On the following morning, however, Professor McGonagall told the Gryffindors disturbing news.

"Parvati Patil is currently in the Hospital Wing, she was hexed by Theodore Nott," she said. "This hex caused her to feel itchy."

"There's no need to worry about her, though, she will be discharged very soon," she went on. "Theodore Nott had been dealt with."

Harry felt relieved.

Once they finished their breakfast, they went to the Hospital Wing, and they saw Parvati lying on the bed.

"Are you all right now, Parvati?" Harry asked.

"Better," Parvati answered.

A moment later, Lavender and Padma arrived.

"What happened?" Padma asked.

"Theodore Nott, he fired a spell at me, making me feel itchy," Lavender answered. "He wants to find someone to practise this spell on."

Theodore Nott knew that he was screwed. Professor Sinistra was angry with him, she had given him a detention and deducted fifty points from him.

o-o

Parvati got discharged from the Hospital Wing on Sunday afternoon, a few hours before dinnertime.

As soon as she returned to the Gryffindor common room, Lavender ran up and hugged her.

During dinnertime, neither Blaise nor Tracey looked at Theodore.

Theodore sat alone, knowing that he would be serving his detention at seven o'clock, he couldn't bear to look at anyone.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**End of Year**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

As the exams approached, Harry and Hermione were busy, revising everything that the teachers had taught them.

Most of the other fifth years were just as busy as Harry and Hermione, some of them wondered if they will pass their exams or not.

Seamus, Dean, and Lavender were all worried about their exams. Ron, however, didn't look worried at all, nor did he do any study.

"What are you doing, Ron?" Neville asked. "The exams are approaching."

"I just want to be a Quidditch player, that's all," Ron answered.

Neville walked away from him.

"No one would want someone like you, Ron," Lavender said.

"Even Quidditch players should not forget about academics," Lee said.

Ron nodded.

But as he joined Harry and Hermione, taking out his books and revising everything he had learnt, he could not concentrate, his mind kept on drifting off to Quidditch.

As Hermione tested Harry, Harry got eight out of ten of the questions right, whereas she tested Ron with the same questions, he only managed to get one of them right.

"Now you know the result," she said. "You had been a real slacker for this entire year. Study something."

Ron could only nod.

O-O

As the exam week approached, the fifth years received their information about the exams.

After the students copied down the exam timetable from the board, Professor McGonagall mentioned that the most stringent anti-cheating spell will be applied to all the exam papers, then she listed out the banned objects during an exam, such as Auto Answer Quills, Self Correcting Ink, Rememberalls, and Detachable Cribbing Cuffs.

"When do we get our results, Professor?" Hermione asked.

"An owl will be sent to you sometime in July," Professor McGonagall answered.

Harry was a little nervous about the exams, he didn't want to fail or get a grade that he didn't expect, so he asked Hermione to test him again, just in case if he forgot anything.

"You should be all right," Hermione said to Harry in the evening, after she tested him.

And she was right. Harry didn't find any of the exams difficult at all, not even Vanishing Spells.

He had slight trouble when he was sitting his Astronomy test, but he knew that he wouldn't be getting a bad grade. He went through his History of Magic exam without a single hitch.

As the exams were over, Harry and Hermione decided to relax for a while.

"Now we just have to wait for our OWL results," Harry said. "Hopefully I will do okay."

"Just don't know what grade I will get," Hermione said.

"I am pretty sure you will pass with top grades," Harry assured her.

"I am not certain about this," Hermione said.

They saw Fred, George, Ron, Angelina and Alicia sitting outside under a tree, enjoying the sunshine.

"You know, Ron, if you want a place in our joke shop you need to wait," Fred said.

"No problem," Ron said. "I can wait."

O-O

As the last day of school arrived, Harry was ready to go home and meet Sirius, not to mention that this would be the first summer holiday that he will be spending away from Number Four, Privet Drive. He would not need to worry about anything until he receives his OWL results.

During the evening, he and Hermione made their way to the Great Hall for the leaving feast, the Great Hall was decorated with Scarlet and Gold, which means that Gryffindor had won the House Cup again, and Dumbledore did not say anything about Professor Webb.

As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station the next morning, Harry and Hermione went for their patrol duty, then they went back and sat with Ron and Ginny.

"You think you will pass, Ron?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know if I am going to pass," Ron answered. "But it doesn't matter, anyway."

"You always say that you want to be a Quidditch player without caring about the academic side of things," Ginny said.

"At least I've improved in this," Ron said. "Maybe I will do better next year."

"I may be trying out the chaser position next year," Ginny said. "We will need new players. Angelina, Alicia, Fred and George won't be back in school next year."

After lunch, Draco Malfoy turned up in Harry's compartment, only this time, he wasn't with Crabbe and Goyle, but with Tracey, Daphne and Blaise.

Ron smirked at them with disgust, but Harry and Hermione decided to not do anything yet.

"Where are Crabbe and Goyle?" Ginny asked.

Ron gasped as she mentioned them.

"They disowned me," Draco said. "They both went and joined Theodore Nott."

Ron shook his head in disbelief, then he glowered at Ginny before turning back to Draco.

"Then you are friendless," he said, smirking. "Shame on you."

"Except for these three," Draco said.

Ron raised his fist, but Tracey and Blaise both marched one step forward, standing between Ron and Malfoy.

"If you think of starting a fight, it will be the last thing you want to do," Blaise said.

"Ron, before you do anything, think about the consequences you will get," Harry said.

Ron lowered his hand and turned to Harry.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"It doesn't look like that Malfoy is here to do any harm to us," Harry answered. "What's the point of starting a fight?"

Ron didn't know what to say.

"I want to get to my NEWTs, but some of the teachers said that I may not be good enough," Draco said.

"Shame on you, Malfoy," Ron said, feeling that it would be better if Malfoy repeats his fifth year.

"Ron, you better think of what grades you will get," Hermione said. "If you get bad grades, how would you feel if other people put you to shame?"

"Are you siding with me or Malfoy?" Ron asked.

"Never mind that," Hermione said. "Your parents would not be impressed if you need to repeat your fifth year, Ron."

Ron didn't know what to say in this. After all, his performance in some of the tests in his OWLs was far from satisfactory, even the ones that were satisfactory would most likely not give him a chance to get to his NEWTs. He put very little thought in his academics during his school year.

Blaise and Tracey both frowned at Harry, Ron and Hermione for a moment.

"Pretty sure that you are still his enemy, aren't you, Weasley?" asked Tracey.

"I am the enemy of the Slytherins," Ron answered.

"How many times do I have to hear you say this, Ron?" Ginny asked.

"I don't know what I am going to do about you now, Ginny, if you get along with the Slytherins..."

"Wait!" Tracey interrupted. "Ron, surely you don't want to make Ginny cry again."

Ron shook his head.

"Don't try and make yourself look like an arse, Ron," Harry said. "You said similar things like this ages ago."

"Of course I wouldn't make myself look like an arse," Ron said. "But the Slytherins..."

"People can change, though," Blaise said. "Do you think Draco Malfoy had caused that much chaos this year?"

Ron considered for a moment, then he shook his head.

"Let's just get out of here now, Malfoy," Tracey said. "I don't believe this is the time to talk to them yet."

Draco nodded, and he followed Tracey and Blaise out of the compartment.

"Ron, remember what you told me when we first met?" Harry asked.

"What?" Ron asked.

"You told me that people coming to Hogwarts from Muggle families and they learn fast enough, yet when you met a Muggleborn who's a know-it-all, you felt annoyed," Harry said. "I did learn fast enough, didn't I? I progressed further than I imagined at this point."

Ron frowned, then he remembered it.

He couldn't find anything to say in this. After all, he did say that.

The rest of the journey passed without the mentioning of Draco Malfoy and the other Slytherins. Ginny was annoyed with Ron's behaviour towards the Slytherins.

"Let's hope that Professor Webb still teaches us Defense Against the Dark Arts next year," Harry said, and Hermione nodded.

"Hopefully, the curse of that position was removed," she said. "Dumbledore did not say that Professor Webb was leaving during the end of year feast, after all."

"Unless if he had to take over other positions," said Harry. "I do hope that the curse in that position was removed, though."

O-O

As soon as the Hogwarts Express stopped, the students got off, went through the barrier of Platform Nine and Three Quarters to meet their parents.

As Harry found Sirius, Sirius hugged him while Hermione went to her parents.

"How are you, Harry?" he asked.

"I am all right," Harry answered.

Soon enough, Hermione's parents, Dan and Emma Granger introduced themselves to him.

"See you later," Hermione said to Harry, then she went with her parents.

As Harry went back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place with Sirius, Sirius sat down with him.

"How are you doing this year?" he asked.

"I am doing fine. I had OWLs this year," Harry answered. "I should be getting top grades."

"I do hope you get top grades," Sirius said. "Did you win the House Cup this year?"

Harry nodded.

After he told Sirius about his year, Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Are you thinking of befriending Draco Malfoy?" asked Sirius.

"Not yet, maybe later," Harry answered.

"I just forgot something, the Daily Prophet said that Peter Pettigrew was caught," Sirius said.

"When was it reported on the Daily Prophet?" asked Harry.

"Yesterday evening," Sirius answered, nodding. "Peter Pettigrew got spotted by a few undercover Aurors while he was in his human form, and they caught up with him."

"Where is the Daily Prophet?" Harry asked.

"I'll get it for you, Harry," Sirius answered.

Then he walked away, reappearing with the Daily Prophet.

Harry took the Daily Prophet and began to read.

**Peter Pettigrew Captured by the Aurors**

_Peter Pettigrew, the one who betrayed James and Lily and killed thirteen Muggles were caught by a few undercover Aurors yesterday evening at around eight o'clock._

_He was currently in the Ministry holding cell awaiting trials._

As Harry finished reading, he placed the Daily Prophet down on the table.

"Good, at least the one who betrayed my parents has been dealt with," he commented.

"And I hope that Peter won't have a chance to escape Azkaban," Sirius said.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**OWL Results**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

In spite of the good news that Peter was caught, and that Harry was in a home where he was welcome, he still missed seeing Hermione.

As he knew that he no longer need to go to the Weasleys, given that Sirius would look after him and get his books and equipment for Hogwarts when the booklist arrives.

"You know what, Aurors catch Dark wizards," Sirius said. "McGonagall was right, while you can apply to be an Auror, you should look into other options, just in case if you didn't make it into that field."

A few weeks later, Harry received an owl.

He opened up his letter and discovered it was his OWL results.

**Harry James Potter has Achieved**

Pass grades

Acceptable (A)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Outstanding (O)

Fail grades

Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

Astronomy: E

History of Magic: O

Transfiguration: O

Charms: O

Divination: E

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Potions: O

Herbology: O

Defense Against the Dark Arts: O

A moment later, Sirius arrived.

"What are you looking at, Harry?" he asked.

"My OWL results," Harry answered, handing it to Sirius.

"You did well, Harry," Sirius said as he examined Harry's grades. "I wondered what results Hermione got."

"She would have better grades than me, I am sure," Harry answered.

His ambition of becoming an Auror was rising, and he knew that he would have to face Voldemort one day.

His birthday was not far away, and he wondered if Sirius got something planned for him.

O-O

Molly looked at Ron's OWL results, and she was not impressed at all.

"Can't believe that you did worse than Fred and George, Ron," she said.

"I got more OWLs than them," Ron said.

"Acceptable? Acceptable or worse in all your courses!" Molly shouted. "This isn't going to get you anywhere, Ron!"

"I bet you would have to repeat your fifth year, Ron," Arthur said as he looked over Ron's grades.

A moment later, Bill, Fred and George came over.

"What's going on?" Fred asked.

"Let's go somewhere else, I'll tell you about it," Arthur said.

Just then, Ginny arrived.

"You are going to be taking your OWLs next year, Ginny," Molly said. "Don't be a slacker like Ron."

Ginny nodded.

O-O

As the end of July approached, Sirius decided to invite Hermione to Grimmauld Place for Harry's birthday. When he mentioned this to Harry, Harry smiled.

"Good idea," he said.

He couldn't wait to meet Hermione again.

"Maybe Hermione could stay with us this summer," Sirius said.

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed.

"Maybe the Weasleys can attend as well," Sirius said, and Harry nodded.

On his birthday, Sirius told Harry that the guests will arrive at half-past four in the afternoon.

Harry was excited, he never had a birthday party before.

"Anyway, here you go," he said, giving Harry a few books.

At half-past four, Hermione arrived.

As Harry saw her, she ran to him and greeted him.

"Happy Birthday," she said, handing him her present.

Fifteen minutes later, the Weasleys arrived.

"How are you, Harry?" asked Molly.

"I am all right," Harry answered.

"What grade did you get in your OWLs, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I've got Outstanding in most of them," Harry answered. "The rest of them are Exceeds Expectations."

He fetched his grades and gave it to Hermione to look.

"That's good, Harry," Hermione said.

Arthur let out a sigh.

"What's wrong, Arthur?" Sirius asked.

Arthur told Sirius about Ron's grades in a soft voice.

"So I bet that he needs to repeat his fifth year," Sirius said, and Arthur nodded.

"What grades did you get, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"All Outstandings," Hermione answered, and Harry didn't look surprised.

Ginny marched forward.

"Happy birthday, Harry," she said.

"Thanks," Harry said.

At this point, Fred and George arrived, handing Harry a few boxes.

"You might find this useful at times," Fred said.

"These are all the products that they invented," Arthur told Harry.

"Thanks," Harry said to the twins. "By the way, did you guys manage to start your joke shop?"

Fred and George nodded.

A moment later, Remus and Tonks arrived.

O-O

During dinner time, the tables were laid with dishes and dishes of food.

Sirius took out the birthday cake he bought for Harry and placed it on the table.

Then he lit the candle.

After a chorus of 'Happy Birthday', Harry blew out the candle.

"Peter Pettigrew was caught," he said to Hermione as Sirius handed a slice of birthday cake to him.

"That's good," Hermione commented.

Then Harry turned to Arthur.

"What grade did Ron get in his OWLs?" Harry asked.

"Some Acceptable grades, the rest of them he didn't pass at all," Arthur said.

"Do you remember which ones he passed and which ones he didn't?" asked Harry.

Arthur considered for a moment.

"He didn't pass History of Magic, Astronomy, Divination and Herbology, the rest of them were Acceptable," he said. "I don't know how much he studied while he was in school."

"Hermione and I had both persuaded him to study while we were in Hogwarts, but he dismissed our words mostly," Harry said quietly.

A few hours later, the party broke up, then the Weasleys went back home, while Hermione stayed in Grimmauld Place.

O-O

One week later, Harry and Hermione's booklist arrived.

As soon as they showed Sirius their booklists, Sirius told them that he will take them to Diagon Alley to get their books on Saturday.

As Saturday arrived, Sirius Apparated Harry and Hermione to Diagon Alley.

Once they arrived at Flourish and Blotts, Harry and Hermione went and picked out the books that were on the booklist, as well as the necessary potion ingredients.

"We are going to be busy this year, I bet," Hermione said.

"Probably," Harry agreed.

After they purchased their books and ingredients, they went to Madam Malkin's Robe shop and purchased new robes.

Once they finished buying their things, Sirius Apparated them back home.

"Sixth years don't have exams," Sirius said.

"That does not mean I can't study," Harry said.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**Sixth Year**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

The rest of the holidays passed, Harry and Hermione were looking forward to their sixth year in Hogwarts.

On the first day of September, Sirius Apparated Harry and Hermione to Kings Cross Station.

As Harry and Hermione went through the barrier of Platform nine and three quarters, they went on the train.

At eleven o'clock, the train started moving.

Harry and Hermione asked Ginny and Neville to look after their stuff, then they went into the Prefect compartment.

As the prefect meeting ended, Harry and Hermione were asked to patrol the corridors first.

They went back to sit with Ginny and Neville as soon as another two prefects informed them that it was their turn to patrol the corridors.

"How's your summer?" asked Harry.

"Good," Ginny said.

"Are you still in contact with Michael Corner during the summer?" asked Harry as he sat down with Hermione.

"Yes," Ginny answered.

The rest of the trip went smoothly.

After the train stopped, Harry and Hermione followed the rest of the students out of the train, then they went into the carriages to get to Hogwarts.

As they arrived in the castle, they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

A moment later, Professor McGonagall arrived with the first years.

"When I call your name, you will come and sit down on the stool and put on the hat," she instructed the first years.

Harry and Hermione listened as she called out the names of the first years.

After everyone was sorted into their houses, Professor McGonagall took the Sorting Hat away.

Albus Dumbledore got to his feet.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," he said. "Before we start, I have a few words to say to you. Tuck in."

The empty plates filled with dishes as usual.

Harry and Hermione helped themselves to food.

"Professor Webb is still here," Harry said after he swallowed his potato.

"It seemed that he would still be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts," Hermione said a moment later.

"Which means that the jinx must have been removed," Harry said.

After the feast, Albus Dumbledore began to give out a few more instructions.

"The forbidden forest remains out of bounds to all students," he said. "The older students should know this by now."

"Quidditch tryouts will happen on the second week of the term, we are in need of more players, anyone interested should see Madam Hooch," he went on.

Then he paused.

"As you may have already known, Voldemort is still at large, and I want to tell you that no students should leave school without the consent of a staff member," he said. "I urge you to abide by any security restrictions your teachers may impose upon you. Should you notice anything suspicious or strange outside this castle, report it to a staff member as soon as possible."

"And now, your bed awaits, so I'll bid you guys goodnight," he said.

Harry and Hermione led the first years to the Gryffindor common room.

Just before Harry was about to part, he heard a voice calling him.

He turned and saw Katie.

"I have been made the Gryffindor Quidditch captain," Katie said.

"Now we need more players on our team," Harry said.

"Right, and I will need to find some people for the tryout," Katie said.

O-O

On the following day, Harry got up and dressed, then he went down to the common room.

A moment later, Hermione arrived.

Together, they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

After breakfast, Harry and Hermione were immediately cleared to continue doing their subjects.

Harry went back to the Gryffindor common room, as he didn't have any classes until the next period.

He had dropped Care of Magical Creatures and Divination, in spite of the fact that he was able to continue with those subjects, so he wouldn't be having any of those classes.

One hour later, Hermione arrived back into the common room.

"I got so much homework for Runes," she said.

"We got Defense Against the Dark Arts now, let's go," Harry said.

Together, they set off for their Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson.

As soon as they entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, they saw Professor Webb sitting at his desk. They took out their books and placed them on their desks.

A moment later, a few more students arrived inside.

Professor Webb got to his feet, and he began his lecture.

"You won't be needing your books yet," he said.

As soon as everyone put their books away, Professor Webb continued.

"We will be learning Non-Verbal spells this year, as well as doing revisions on a few spells that were already covered."

"Before we begin, I want to ask you a question, what is the advantage of a Non-Verbal spell?" he asked.

Hermione's hand shot up in the air, then Harry's hand shot up a little while later.

"Your opponent has no warning about what spell you are about to perform, which gives you a split second advantage," Hermione said.

"Correct," Professor Webb said. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Yes, those who progress using magic without saying incantations aloud will surprise their foes. Not all wizards can do this, of course, is a question of concentration and mind power that some of you may lack."

"I want you to divide into pairs to practise," he said. "One will attempt to jinx the other without speaking, and the other one will repel it in equal silence."

The students got to their feet. Harry immediately paired up with Hermione.

Harry was jinxed by Hermione several times, yet Harry did not manage to block any of them.

At the end of the class, Hermione received thirty more points, whereas some of the other students who managed to do it properly received ten points.

"It was harder than I thought," Harry said after the class ended.

After lunch, Harry and Hermione went to the potions class.

Ten minutes later, more students entered the class.

Harry and Hermione took out their copies of Advanced Potion Making and placed it on their desks.

Professor Slughorn stood up.

"Let's begin the class," he said. "I've prepared a few potions for you to look at."

"Who can tell me what this potion is?" he asked, indicating the cauldron near the Slytherin table.

Harry's hand shot up, he recognised it, it was Veritaserum, the potion that Snape mentioned when he was in his fourth year.

"It is Veritaserum, it makes the drinker tell the truth," he answered.

"Correct, ten points to Gryffindor," Slughorn said. "How about this one?"

Hermione's hand shot up before Harry this time.

"Yes, Miss Granger," he said.

"This is Polyjuice Potion, a potion that transforms someone to someone else, depends on who's hair being used," Hermione answered.

"Correct, another ten points to Gryffindor," Slughorn said. "This one?"

Harry's hand shot up in the air again.

"This is a potion called Amortentia, a love potion that makes the drinker become infatuated or obsessed to the person who gave it to them," he answered.

"Correct, another ten points to Gryffindor," Slughorn said.

"And now, it is time for us to start work," he went on. "We are making the Draught of Living Death."

Harry gathered everything he needed to make the potion, and then he opened his book to the chapter entitled 'The Draught of Living Death' and began to brew.

As soon as he finished, he compared it with Hermione's.

He let out a sigh of relief as he found that his potion was identical to hers.

As the time was up, Slughorn checked everyone's potion, walking around and giving them words of encouragement.

As he went to Harry and Hermione, he looked at their potions.

"Excellent potion, Mr Potter," he said, then he moved over to see Hermione's.

"Excellent, Miss Granger."

After dinner, Harry and Hermione went back into the common room, trying to do the homework that the professors had set them.

Harry went to bed at nine o'clock, whereas Hermione went to bed at nine forty-five.

O-O

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, he had just stabbed a ring with the Sword of Gryffindor, and he wondered where the other Horcruxes were.

He knew that there were only two of them left, the Cup and the Snake, but he still needs to find them.

He decided to find the Cup first, since killing the Snake would be a bit risky for Voldemort to discover the fact that his Horcruxes were destroyed.

Could Voldemort be hiding the Cup in Gringotts? If yes, which vault did he hide it in?

He knew that Voldemort doesn't have a vault in Gringotts, which means it would be likely for him to hid the Cup in the vault of one of his Death Eaters.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Quidditch Tryout**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

Dumbledore knew that Tonks was a Hufflepuff, and he wondered if she would have any information about this.

_If Voldemort hid Hufflepuff's Cup inside Bellatrix's vault, I could ask Tonks to sneak in there and see what happened._

He wasn't sure if he was right about this, but he knew it would be worth to try, better than not doing anything at all.

O-O

The second Saturday of the month arrived, Harry took his firebolt and followed Katie down to the Quidditch pitch, with another group of students following behind him, carrying their broomsticks.

"I've seen you playing for five years, Harry," Katie said. "Maybe I could see you catching the snitch again."

"Right," Harry said.

Katie watched him as he caught the snitch several times, she was impressed with his abilities.

"Good catch Harry, you are still in, now I am going to see how the others are doing before I let them in on the team," she said.

A large, wiry-haired boy called Cormac McLaggen was the next one to be tried out as a Keeper.

"You didn't try out last year, did you?" Katie asked.

"I was in the Hospital Wing when the trials were held last year," Cormac said. "I ate a pound of Doxy eggs for a bet."

"Wait over there please," Katie said, pointing at the edge of the pitch.

As she tried out the applicants who wanted to be keepers, they saved no more than two goals, yet another boy called Bradley Berry saved three goals.

"Cormac, you are next," she said.

Cormac got to his feet, he saved five penalties.

As she examined Ron guarding the hoops, Ron saved five penalties.

"You two are in for a draw," Katie said. "This is a bit hard for me to decide who to let in on the team. We can't have two keepers on one team."

Several applicants who were waiting to be tried out laughed.

"Stop laughing!" Katie ordered. "This isn't a joke."

The applicants stopped laughing.

Katie considered for a moment.

"Let's try out the chasers and beaters, then we will get back to the keeper," she decided.

Bradley didn't look too comfortable, and Katie spotted him.

"Don't give up hope yet, I'll leave you on reserve, Bradley," Katie said. "If the keepers are sick, I'll let you in."

Bradley nodded.

Katie tried out the beaters first, then the chasers.

Two hours later, she found two beaters, Ritchie Coote, who looked weedy but aimed well, and Lawrence Lopez, a fourth-year student who not only aimed well but also had fast reactions.

As for the chasers, she picked a girl called Demelza Robins, who was good at dodging Bludgers, and a boy called Luis Wells, who was only one year below Harry, not only he was good at dodging Bludgers, he also aimed quite well and had scored eighteen goals out of twenty.

Ginny Weasley, who was also trying out as a chaser and had scored seventeen goals didn't look comfortable, she wasn't in on the team.

"Don't worry, Ginny, maybe you could be put on reserve too," Harry comforted her, then he turned to Katie, who nodded.

Later on, Katie tried Ron and Cormac a second time, this time, Ron scored eight out of ten goals, while Cormac scored six out of ten.

"Ron, you are in again," Katie decided.

As everyone went back into the Gryffindor common room, they sat down and rested for a moment.

"Let's go down to dinner now," Harry said.

O-O

"We've got our team ready now," Katie said in the evening in the Gryffindor common room. "Let's hope that this year we will win again."

The rest of the Quidditch players cheered.

"Let's hope that we practice hard, then," Harry said.

O-O

The following week passed, Dumbledore received Hufflepuff's Cup from Tonks, who had morphed into Bellatrix, entering the Lestrange's vault and retrieved it.

He took the Sword of Gryffindor and stabbed it.

There was a piercing scream erupted from the cup, a moment later, it fell silent.

Albus put the Sword of Gryffindor down on the table, sighing in relief, as he knew that there was only one Horcrux left, which was the Snake.

He knew that he will need to find out where the snake is before he could destroy it.

_The only thing to do after all the Horcruxes gets destroyed would be letting Harry facing Voldemort, _he thought.

He knew that even if Voldemort discovered that all his Horcruxes had been destroyed, there would be no chance for him to create more of them again, lest if he wants to render his soul more unstable than before. He hoped that Voldemort didn't have any idea that his Horcruxes were being hunted and destroyed.

He was impressed with his progress. Voldemort would be mortal once again soon enough, then he would ask Harry to finish off Voldemort.

O-O

On the thirteenth of October, Harry and Hermione went to Hogsmeade with the other students who were third years and above.

Ron joined them a moment later, along with Ginny.

"Are you studying lately?" asked Harry.

"A bit," Ron answered.

After Harry ordered two Butterbeers, he handed one to Hermione, then they sat down, opened their tankard and began drinking.

"I hope you learnt your lesson from last year's lack of study, Ron," Harry said.

"And if you get expelled from Hogwarts…" Hermione began, but she stopped as she saw Ron walking away.

Ginny came over and sat down with Hermione and Harry.

"Ron hadn't been studying much at the moment," she said.

"He might be able to get E in some of his subjects this time, though," Harry said.

"He might, but at the moment he only got A or worse," Ginny said. "I don't know if he is going to improve as time goes on."

Harry and Hermione decided to stop discussing Ron for the moment.

They went into Honeydukes and bought some sweets.

"Harry, don't forget that we are going to be patrolling the corridors this evening," Hermione reminded him.

"Yeah, I remember that," Harry said.

So after dinner, they walked from corridor to corridor, making sure that no one was wandering around, then they saw Tracey and Blaise confronting two third-year Slytherins who got into an argument with a first-year Slytherin.

They proceeded on without hearing their conversations.

At ten o'clock, they went back to the Gryffindor common room, bid each other goodnight, and went back to their dormitory.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Quidditch Match Again**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

As Albus Dumbledore wondered where Voldemort's Snake was, there was a knock on the door.

"Enter," he said.

The door opened.

"Mr Malfoy, to what do I owe this pleasure?" he asked.

"The Dark Lord needs a spy at Hogwarts, and I was forced to do it," Draco said.

Dumbledore considered for a moment.

"Maybe you should do it, and I will be the one to tell you what to tell Voldemort," he said.

Draco nodded, as he could not think of any way to get out of this.

As November arrived, the Gryffindor Quidditch team practised as hard as they could, and they were all tired after each practice.

"I think we should have no problem beating Slytherin," Katie said.

However, after he headed back to the common room, Ginny caught a glance of Michael, they beamed at each other before they left.

"You are still dating Michael, aren't you?" asked Ron.

"What if I am?" asked Ginny.

Ron shook his head.

But by the evening before the first match, Ron had failed to save several goals, Katie was not impressed with his effort of goalkeeping.

"What's going on with you, Ron?" she asked. "I thought you can save enough goals for us to win."

"Yeah, you saved a lot of goals yesterday," Harry said.

"Hopefully he was not making a fool of himself on purpose," Luis said.

"Shut up, Luis!" Ron shouted.

"That will do," Katie said, then everyone fell silent.

As everyone went back to the Gryffindor common room, Harry didn't know what to say to make sure that Ron does his best at goalkeeping.

"Do you not want Gryffindor to win?" Katie asked Ron.

"Don't be stupid, I do want Gryffindor to win," Ron answered.

"You better make sure you save the goals tomorrow," Katie said, and Ron nodded. "I don't want to see you again like you did last year in the first Quidditch match with the goalkeeping, if I don't see you making any effort in saving the goals tomorrow, I may consider removing you from the team."

Ron walked away without saying anything.

On the following day, after breakfast, Hermione kissed Harry, wishing him good luck.

Harry went to the common room, retrieved his Firebolt and went into the changing room, joining the others in his team.

"The new Slytherin captain is Urquhart," Katie said. "The new Slytherin keeper is Don Ramirez, I don't know how good he is, maybe Ron could save goals better, or Harry could catch the snitch earlier."

Harry sighed, and Ron looked worried.

"Don't panic everyone, I am not here to scare you, but you do need to put some effort into playing the match, especially you, Ron, unless if you are prepared to lose the match," Katie said.

As soon as they got changed, they walked out onto the Quidditch pitch.

The Slytherin team was already on the pitch, waiting for them.

"Captains, shake hands," Madam Hooch said.

Katie walked up and shook hands with the new Slytherin Captain, Urquhart.

"Mount your brooms, one, two three…"

The fourteen players mounted their brooms, soaring up to midair.

As Madam Hooch let the balls out of the crate, the game began.

The commentator, Zacharias Smith stood by the megaphone.

"Slytherin's attempting to score a goal, Urquhart threw the Quaffle in -"

Ron tried to save it, but he missed.

"Ten-nil to Slytherin!" Zacharias said.

Harry was zooming on the pitch, looking for the snitch, and Draco Malfoy was doing the same.

"Gryffindor takes possession of the Quaffle, Luis zooming in towards the goal...Gryffindor score, ten-ten to Gryffindor."

A moment later, Slytherin chaser, Blaise, seized the Quaffle, zoomed around the pitch, then he threw the Quaffle towards the goalpost.

However, Ron got there just in time, catching the Quaffle in his hand, then he threw it to Demelza.

Demelza zoomed in towards the goal, but the Slytherin chasers were chasing her, she looked behind her and passed it to Luis.

Luis zoomed towards the goalpost, dodging a Bludger in the process, but as he threw the Quaffle towards the goalhoop, the Slytherin keeper, Ramirez, caught it, then he threw it to Vaisey.

Harry zoomed past him, still looking for the snitch.

Vaisey zoomed around the pitch, but then he got hit by a Bludger before he was ready to throw the Quaffle, causing him to drop it, and Katie managed to catch it.

She zoomed towards the goalpost, threw the Quaffle into the goalhoop, the Slytherin keeper tried to block it, but it was too late.

"Twenty-Ten to Gryffindor!" Zacharias roared.

Then Blaise seized the Quaffle, and he began to zoom around, but he got hit by a Bludger, causing him to drop the Quaffle, and Demelza caught it, then she went towards the goal.

"Gryffindor in possession, Robins zooming towards the goal… She scores! Thirty-Ten to Gryffindor!"

Then the Slytherin Chaser, Vaisley, seized the Quaffle, zig-zagging around the pitch.

Leon tried to intercept him, but he sped off towards the goalpost, then he threw the Quaffle towards the hoop.

Ron managed to kick the Quaffle away, and Leon caught it.

But as he went towards the goalpost, he got hit by a Bludger, dropping the Quaffle, then Blaise caught it, and threw it towards the goal, scoring another goal.

"Twenty-Thirty to Slytherin!" Zacharias yelled.

Then Katie scored another goal, making Gryffindor Forty-Twenty.

Then Blaise had the Quaffle, zooming towards the goalpost, the Gryffindors Chasers attempted to intercept him, but he passed it to Vaisey, then Vaisey passed it to Urquhart.

As Urquhart threw the Quaffle towards the hoop, Ron saved the goal again.

Meanwhile, Harry was zooming around the pitch, looking for the snitch.

Leon attempting to score another goal, but Ramirez caught the Quaffle again, then he threw it to Urquhart.

Urquhart zoomed towards the goalpost, holding the Quaffle and threw it in. This time, he scored.

"Forty-thirty to Gryffindor!" Zacharias roared.

A moment later, Harry saw the snitch, and he sped off after it.

Draco was right behind him, but he managed to grab hold of it.

"Game Over, one-hundred and ninety to thirty for Gryffindor," Zacharias said.

As Harry landed on the ground, his fellow teammates were hugging him.

"We won again," Katie said quietly.

This time, Draco Malfoy walked away.

"Party in the common room!" said Leon.

Harry went back into the changing room and got changed, then he went out of the changing room and found Hermione.

"I don't want to go to that party, it is too much noise," Hermione said.

"Where do you want to go?" asked Harry.

"An empty classroom would do," Hermione said.

"I'll go there for now," Harry said. "I'll meet you later."

Then he made his way to the Gryffindor common room.

As he entered the Gryffindor common room, he was surrounded by a group of people congratulating him. Then he spotted Ron, kissing a fifth-year girl.

"That game wasn't too bad," said Leon.

"At least Ron didn't make a fool of himself in the match today," Harry said, nodding.

Twenty minutes later, he left the Gryffindor common room to find Hermione.

He found her in the first unlocked classroom he tried, Hermione was sitting at the teacher's desk, a small ring of twittering birds circling her head, which she had just conjured out of mid-air.

"Hi Harry," she greeted.

"Hi Hermione," Harry greeted.

Hermione waved her wand, then the birds disappeared, then she ran to him and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek again.

"What was Ron doing?" she asked.

"Snogging a girl in the Gryffindor common room," Harry said. "I don't know her name."

Half an hour later, they left the classroom.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

**A Long Match against Hufflepuff**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

"I am glad that you won the match again!" Sirius said.

It was the Christmas holiday, Harry had finished telling Sirius what happened in school, Sirius was impressed.

"I am glad that you are keeping up with your schoolwork, and I am impressed that you won the match," said Sirius. "How's Ron's study?"

"I don't have any idea about this, as I did not ask him," Harry answered.

The Christmas time was quite exciting, Remus and Tonks had arrived to keep Harry and Sirius company.

On the day before the school term started, Sirius sent Harry off to the train station.

As he went on the train, he met Hermione, then they went to the prefect compartment together.

"How's your holiday?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Good," Hermione answered. "And you?"

"My holiday was great," Harry answered.

They didn't talk much while they were performing their duties on the train.

O-O

Once they went back into the Gryffindor Tower, they took out their books and began to read again.

A moment later, Ron entered the classroom, followed by Ginny.

"Hi Harry, Hi Hermione," she said.

"Hi Ginny," Hermione greeted. "How's your Christmas?"

"Good," Ginny answered.

"We are going to patrol the corridor again on Wednesday night," Harry said, glancing at the duty schedule.

On the following evening, Harry and Hermione were both doing the homework that the teachers had set them.

After they finished their homework, they bid each other goodnight and went to bed.

O-O

On Wednesday night, Harry and Hermione got out of the common room, walking from corridor to corridor, making sure that no one wanders around.

Nevertheless, as they reached a corridor, they saw Tracey Davis and Blaise Zabini, along with three first-year Slytherins.

They crept past them, then they saw a few first-year students.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Harry.

The first-year students did not answer, instead, they turned and ran away.

"We should report them, don't you think?" asked Hermione.

Harry nodded.

"Let's continue our duties for now," he said.

They walked through a few more corridors, making sure that no more students are wandering around at night. After the hour was over, they went back to the common room, bid each other goodnight and went to bed.

O-O

As the Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff match drew nearer, Katie was a bit stressed.

"The Hufflepuff Quidditch team this year are quite new, too, we should be able to beat them, though I have to say that Ravenclaw had won against Hufflepuff by only ten points ahead."

"How many points did Ravenclaw get?" asked Ron.

"Ravenclaw got one-hundred and eighty points in that match," Katie answered. "Nevertheless, Ravenclaw also won against Slytherin, two-hundred and ten to seventy."

"That means we need to match against Ravenclaw as well if we want to win the house cup this year," Harry said.

Katie nodded.

"Then we need at least sixty points before Harry catches the snitch," said Demelza.

"If we can beat Hufflepuff by more points, we could go without matching against Ravenclaw," Ron said.

"Yeah, but it looks like we need to match against Ravenclaw as well," Katie said.

Harry wasn't too impressed with this.

When he was in his third year, he blocked Malfoy from catching the Snitch several times, how on earth would he block the Hufflepuff seeker from catching the Snitch just for the sake of winning when there's still have more chances of winning the house cup?

He wondered if Ron could do better as a Keeper this time.

He knew he had enough time, but Katie may not have enough time for this, except that she wasn't doing any other duties besides Quidditch Captain.

On the Saturday of the Quidditch match, Harry went into the changing room after breakfast with his teammates.

"There are some new players in the Hufflepuff team," Katie said as they got changed. "Don't know what they are going to bring to us."

As they arrived at the Quidditch pitch, they stopped, then they saw the Hufflepuffs arriving from the opposite side.

Madam Hooch was standing at the middle of the pitch.

The Hufflepuffs approached the Gryffindors, then Madam Hooch asked the Captains to shake hands.

Katie shook hands with Zacharias Smith.

"Mount your brooms everyone," Madam Hooch said.

As the brooms were mounted, the commentator, Luna Lovegood began commentating.

"Demelza in possession of the Quaffle, flying straight to the goal post, shooting the Quaffle in, but blocked by the Hufflepuff Keeper," she said.

Harry was zooming around the pitch, looking for the Snitch.

"Hufflepuff in possession, Cadwallader has the Quaffle...Ron, save it," Luna said.

Nevertheless, Ron missed, the Quaffle shot straight past him, into the hoop.

"Ten-nil to Hufflepuff!" Luna announced.

Katie seized the Quaffle, zooming around the pitch, dodging a Hufflepuff chaser who tried to intercept her, then thrust the Quaffle at the hoop.

"Ten-Ten to Gryffindor!" Luna announced.

Frances seized the Quaffle, zooming around the pitch, then a bludger hit him, causing him to drop the Quaffle. Then Luis seized the Quaffle again.

"Wells in possession, zooming around the pitch and...Gryffindor score again, Twenty-Ten to Gryffindor."

Then the Hufflepuff Chaser, Cadwallader, took possession of the Quaffle, zooming around the pitch until he was about one metre from the hoop. As he threw the Quaffle towards the hoop, Ron caught it.

Then Demelza scored another goal, Thirty-Ten.

Frances took possession of the Quaffle, zooming around the pitch, Luis tried to intercept him, but Frances passed it to Zacharias.

Zacharias zoomed around the pitch, approaching the hoop, as he was about less than one metre from the hoop, he got hit by a Bludger, causing him to drop the Quaffle.

Demelza took the Quaffle and threw it towards the hoop.

"Forty-Ten to Gryffindor!" Luna roared.

Cadwallader seized the Quaffle and zoomed towards the goalposts, dodging a bludger in the process.

As he was only about one metre away from the hoop, he threw the Quaffle towards the hoop, however, Ron caught it again.

Katie seized the Quaffle, roaming around the pitch, dodging a bludger and headed towards the goalposts.

As she threw the Quaffle towards the hoop, the Hufflepuff Keeper, Jerrell Silva, caught it.

"Hufflepuff in possession," Luna said. "Frances has the Quaffle, dodges a Bludger and zooming towards the goalpost, Weasley, save it."

Just as she had expected, Ron caught the Quaffle and threw it to Luis, who zoomed towards the goalpost, and got another shot.

"Fifty-Ten to Gryffindor!" Luna roared.

Cadwallader seized the Quaffle, but as he zoomed around the pitch, he got hit by a Bludger, causing him to drop the Quaffle. Demelza seized the Quaffle and headed for the goalposts.

"Gryffindor in possession, Demelza heading for the goal...Sixty-Ten to Gryffindor!" Luna announced.

Cadwallader seized the Quaffle again, zooming around the pitch, as he was near the goalposts, he attempted to throw the Quaffle into the hoop, only that Ron blocked it again, passing the Quaffle to Demelza.

Demelza headed towards the Hufflepuff goalposts, but all the Hufflepuff chasers were following behind her, she passed the Quaffle to Luis to avoid getting intercepted.

Luis headed towards the goal, thrust the Quaffle into the hoop.

"Seventy-Ten to Gryffindor!" Luna announced.

Zacharias Smith took possession of the Quaffle, headed towards the goalpost.

Nevertheless, a Bludger hit him, causing him to drop the Quaffle, then Katie seized the Quaffle and thrust it into the hoop.

"Eighty-Ten to Gryffindor!" Luna announced.

Then Cadwallader seized the Quaffle and headed straight for the goal.

Katie and Luis were both chasing him, so he passed it to Zacharias, Zacharias took aim, lobbed it straight at the hoop.

"Eighty-Twenty to Gryffindor!" Luna announced.

Then Luis seized the Quaffle and headed straight to the Hufflepuff goalposts.

A Bludger shot straight at him, but Lawrence hit it with his bat, causing it to rocket back to the other side, then Luis continued to move towards the goalposts.

"Ninety-Twenty to Gryffindor!" Luna announced again.

Zacharias Smith seized the Quaffle again, heading straight for the goalposts, as he was only about one metre away from the hoop, he thrust the Quaffle towards it.

"Ninety-Thirty to Gryffindor!" Luna announced again.

Demelza took possession of the Quaffle again, zooming around the pitch, dodging a Bludger and headed straight towards the goalposts.

Zacharias was following her, but before he could intercept her, she scored another goal.

"One-hundred to Thirty to Gryffindor!" Luna announced again.

Cadwallader took possession of the Quaffle, zooming around the pitch and scored another goal.

"One-hundred to Forty to Gryffindor!" Luna announced again.

Katie took possession of the Quaffle, zooming around the pitch towards the goalpost, then she scored another goal.

"One-hundred and ten to Forty to Gryffindor!" Luna announced.

Zacharias seized the Quaffle and zoomed around the pitch, dodged another Bludger, and headed straight towards the goalposts.

As he was near the Gryffindor goalpost, he threw the Quaffle into the hoop.

"One-hundred and ten to Fifty to Gryffindor!" Luna roared.

Katie took possession of the Quaffle, moving towards the Hufflepuff goalposts, dodging Cadwallader who tried to intercept her, then she threw the Quaffle into the hoop.

"One-hundred and twenty to Fifty to Gryffindor!" Luna roared.

Frances took possession of the Quaffle again, zooming around the pitch, as he attempted to score a goal, Ron tried to block it, but it was too late.

"One-hundred and twenty to Sixty to Gryffindor!" Luna announced.

Demelza took possession of the Quaffle again, heading towards the goalposts, dodging Cadwallader, but then she got hit by a Bludger, causing her to drop the Quaffle.

Zacharias took possession of the Quaffle and headed towards the goalposts.

As he was near the goalposts, he tossed the Quaffle, and it shot through the hoop.

"One-hundred and twenty to Seventy to Gryffindor!" Luna announced.

Then Demelza took possession of the Quaffle and set off to the Hufflepuff goal.

Frances tried to intercept her, but she passed the Quaffle to Luis, then Luis tossed the Quaffle, causing it to shoot through the hoop.

"One-hundred and thirty to Seventy to Gryffindor!" Luna announced.

Cadwallader took possession of the Quaffle, headed towards the goalposts, but he got hit by a Bludger, and Demelza took possession of it, then she headed towards the Hufflepuff goalposts.

"Gryffindor score again, One-hundred and forty to Seventy!" Luna roared.

Harry was still searching for the Snitch, then he spotted Summerby a few miles ahead, the Snitch was right in front of him. Just then, a Bludger went for Summerby, forcing him to dodge it, then the Snitch vanished again.

"Smith in possession of the Quaffle, heading for the goal," Luna went on. "He got hit by a Bludger, causing him to drop the Quaffle, and Katie Bell took possession of the Quaffle and headed for the Hufflepuff goalposts...Yes, another ten points for Gryffindor!"

Harry zoomed around the pitch, looking for the Snitch, then he spotted it. He accelerated forward, took his hand off his broom.

"Gryffindor score again, Three-hundred to Seventy!" Luna announced.

"Gryffindor wins!" Madam Hooch announced.

As Harry landed on the ground, the Gryffindor Quidditch team approached him.

"Incredible," Katie roared happily.

"This was a long game," Demelza said.

"We may not even need to match against Ravenclaw now," Harry said.

Katie nodded.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**Victory**

Disclaimer: Everything in the Harry Potter universe belongs to J.K. Rowling, I got nothing out of this except for enjoyment.

After lunch on the following day, Dumbledore heard a knock on his office door.

"Enter," he said.

The door opened, it was Draco again.

"What can I do for you, Mr Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked.

"I received this letter from the Dark Lord," Draco said, handing him the letter.

Dumbledore took it, then he began to read.

_Dear Draco_

_I am going to launch an attack on Hogwarts around the end of the year, your task is to provide a passageway so that my followers and I can enter Hogwarts._

_You have until the first day of June to reply to this._

_Regards_

_Voldemort_

"We have time, Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore said. "You may leave now, I'll deal with this."

Draco nodded, then he left the office.

Dumbledore knew that there was only one Horcrux left, the Snake, he wondered where it was.

_Maybe I should check Little Hangleton, he thought._

Over the next few days, Dumbledore was not seen at the staff table during mealtimes at all, Harry and Hermione had no idea where he was, or what he was doing.

"I am pretty sure he is up to something," Hermione said to Harry.

Harry nodded.

"Hopefully he will be back soon," he said.

On the following Monday, Dumbledore was back.

O-O

Voldemort went outside to Little Hangleton, then he saw a terrific sight.

The Snake was in two pieces.

He did not know who killed it, or what motive the person who killed it has.

Was there a possibility that someone was after his Horcruxes?

He didn't dare think of the worst, that his Horcruxes was targeted and destroyed.

He knew he couldn't check Hogwarts, as Dumbledore was still there, but he decided to check elsewhere.

He decided to check to see if any of his Horcruxes remained intact.

O-O

"Ron, aren't you studying?" asked Harry.

Ron shook his head.

"I am doing all right," he said.

"Maybe you want to do more study soon," Harry said.

"I will," Ron said.

As May arrived, the fifth years were all studying for their OWLs, some of them were nervous, some of them worked harder than others. Ginny could be seen studying by her table most time of the day, and she hardly relaxed.

Ron's grade had improved, the Professors advised him to put a bit more time in studying.

O-O

Voldemort was ready, he gathered all his Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor.

"Today we will attempt to take over Hogwarts," he said to his followers.

The group split up into two, one group would attempt to enter through the main entrance, while the others following behind. After they Apparated to Hogsmeade, they set off for Hogwarts.

As they reached Hogwarts grounds, they saw themselves facing a group of Wizards.

Amycus shot a curse at Minerva McGonagall, who conjured up a shield to block it.

Filius Flitwick shot a stunning spell at Alecto, causing her to collapse.

Yaxley fired a Killing Curse at Pomona Sprout, who leapt out of the way, in return, she fired a wordless Incarcerous spell at him, binding him.

Meanwhile, Travis fell down, and Gibbon looked behind him, saw a few Aurors.

Alex Webb fired a hex at Rowle, causing him to fall down to the ground.

A moment later, the second group of Death Eaters arrived.

Alex Webb fired a hex at Avery, causing him to fall down to the ground, while Filius Flitwick disarmed Nott Snr, and Minerva stunned him while he was looking for his wand.

A moment later, Dumbledore arrived, followed by Aurora Sinestra.

They fought for about half an hour, most of the Death Eaters were either stunned, jinxed, or put in a full body-bind curse.

One minute passed, Voldemort arrived.

"You've beaten my supporters, now it is your time to face me," he said.

Alex Webb stepped forward.

"Show me what you've got," he said, pulling out his wand and pointed at Voldemort.

Voldemort fired a Killing Curse at Alex, but Alex summoned a rock and levitated it, causing the curse to hit the rock instead.

Then he fired another spell at Voldemort, a black box appeared, covering Voldemort completely from head to feet.

"What happened to Voldemort?" asked Dumbledore.

"He's currently under the box," Alex answered.

"What did you do?" asked Dumbledore.

"I conjured this box to cover him," Alex answered. "This box isn't an ordinary box, it is a box that drains magic powers to the point of zero."

"I've never seen this spell," Dumbledore said. "Wouldn't the Death Eaters be using this spell too?"

"This spell is my own invention, and only I can use this spell," Alex explained. "Anyone else who attempts to use this spell will have no effect whatsoever."

The other professors stared at Alex, unable to say anything.

Alex flicked his wand, then the box flew back towards him and disappeared.

Voldemort stood there, raising his wand and cast a Killing Curse at Alex, but nothing happened. He gasped.

Before he could do anything else, Dumbledore stunned him.

"This spell not only drains someone's magic, but it can also cause death to the person who got hit by it, nothing can be done to reverse this effect," Alex went on.

O-O

The news that Voldemort would be gone spread through the Daily Prophet, some people were shocked, but the Minister of Magic did not have any comment on it.

Some people interviewed Alex, asking him about the spell that he used, he revealed that this spell can only be used by him.

The Minister of Magic did not criticise Alex for using this spell, but he wasn't too impressed about the fact that it was possible to create spells that only its creator can use. He wondered if there should be a law regarding created spells, but when Alex pointed out that no one knows his method of spell creation, the Minister nodded.

On the following morning, Dumbledore made another announcement at breakfast.

"I will not be coming back to Hogwarts next year, Minerva McGonagall will be taking over my position," he said.

**Epilogue – Fifteen years later**

"Ready?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I am ready," James said.

Harry and Hermione were at the King's Cross, sending their son James off to Hogwarts.

They met Dean, and his wife, Parvati, Colin Creevey, along with his wife, Fay Dumbar.

They took a glimpse of Draco Malfoy and his wife Daphne, Blaise Zabini and his wife Megan.

Tracey and her husband Marcus Belby came over and greeted them, their son followed behind them, Harry and Hermione greeted back.

"This is our son, Jack," introduced Marcus.

James shook hands with Jack and introduced himself.

Then Ron arrived with a woman next to him, along with a girl on the other side of him.

"This is Sharon," Ron said. "This is our daughter Amy."

"This is the first time I saw you," Harry said.

"She attended Beauxbatons," Ron said. "She's only two years younger than me."

"No wonder," Harry said.

Next came Ginny along with Michael Corner, with their twin daughters, one of them was called Janet, one of the called Marie.

Harry looked at his watch.

"It's one minute to eleven, you better get on the train," he said to James.

James stepped on the train, while Harry and Hermione helped him lifting his trunk in.

"Bye James, see you at Christmas," Harry said.

"Bye," James said.

As the Hogwarts Express pulled out of the station, Harry and Hermione stood at the platform for another minute, then they left for work.

The End.


End file.
